Open AccessImmunoreactivity for alpha-smooth muscle actin characterizes a potentially aggressive subgroup of little basal cell carcinomas
Author(s) -
Luca Pilloni,
Paola Del Bianco,
Cristina Manieli,
Giancarlo Senes,
Pierpaolo Coni,
Laura Atzori,
N. Aste,
Gavino Faa
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
european journal of histochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.754
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 2038-8306
pISSN - 1121-760X
DOI - 10.4081/ejh.2009.e14
Subject(s) - immunohistochemistry , basal cell carcinoma , pathology , basal (medicine) , cell , basal cell , biology , infiltration (hvac) , medicine , physics , insulin , genetics , thermodynamics
Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is a very common malignant skin tumor that rarely metastatizes, but is often locally aggressive. Several factors, like large size (more than 3 cm), exposure to ultraviolet rays, histological variants, level of infiltration and perineural or perivascular invasion, are associated with a more aggressive clinical course. These morphological features seem to be more determinant in mideface localized BCC, which frequently show a significantly higher recurrence rate. An immunohistochemical profile, characterized by reactivity of tumor cells for p53, Ki67 and alpha-SMA has been associated with a more aggressive behaviour in large BCCs. The aim of this study was to verify if also little (less than 3 cm) basal cell carcinomas can express immunohistochemical markers typical for an aggressive behaviour