A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF Ki 67 IMMUNOPROFILE OF BENIGN AND MALIGNANT SALIVARY GLAND TUMOURS

Ki 67 immunoprofile of benign and malignant salivary gland tumours

Abstract

salivary gland tumours, using their Ki-67 immunoreactivity in a 
South-South Nigerian population. 
METHODS: A descriptive and analytical study of 42 formalin fixed 
paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks of histologically diagnosed 
neoplastic salivary gland tumours. FFPE tissue block of 21 benign 
and 21 malignant tumours were sectioned and stained with Ki
67(MIB1) primary antibody, using the polymer horseradish 
peroxidase method. The Ki-67 labelling index (LI) of each tumour 
was assessed. The mean Ki-67 LI of the benign salivary gland 
tumours was compared with that of the malignant tumours. 

RESULTS: There was a generally low reactivity of the salivary gland 
tumours to Ki 67 antibody, only 31.0% cases showed 
immunoreactivity for Ki-67 antibody, and the Ki-67 LI ranged from 
0.5 to 7 % in both the benign and malignant tumours. The mean Ki
67 LI for the malignant lesions (3.9%) was higher than that of the 
benign tumours (2.4%), but the difference was not statistically 
significant [p=0.280]. 
CONCLUSION: This study showed that Ki 67 antibody cannot 
reliably differentiate a benign from a malignant salivary gland 
tumour, although the malignant lesions had a higher Ki 67 LI.