Objective To study the expression of telomerase reverse transcripatase (hTERT) and bcl-2 in ameloblastoma (AB).Methods hTERTmRNA in 54 cases of AB (primary AB 31 cases, recurrent AB 17 cases, malignant AB 4 cases) and 7 cases of oral normal mucosa was detectd by in situ hybridization, and bcl-2 by S-Pmethod.Results The expression of hTERT mRNAwas negative or weak in normal oral mucosa (14·3%), moderate or strong in AB (94·4%). There was a significant dif- ference in these two groups (P