Exami̇nati̇on of wnt/beta-cateni̇n si̇gnal pathway, cox-2, ki̇67, tri̇ptaz and cd1a i̇n basal cell carci̇noma subtypes

BACKGROUND: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common human cancer. BCC is a malign cutaneous tumor, presumably arising from basal cells in epidermis or the outer root sheath of hair follicles. Generally BHK has very low recurrence and metastasis rate, nevertheless, aggressive subtypes may cause tissue destruction and metastatis therefore leading to death. Many histologic subtypes has been defined so far, however histopathologic subtypes may be insufficient to decide tumor agressivity so some immunohistochemical parameters which may reflect tumor behavior are needed. MATRERIAL AND METHOD: In 97 cases who were diagnosed as BCC in Afyon Kocatepe University, Medicine of Faculty, Department of Dermatology and Venereal Diseases and of whom pathological specimens were examined in Pathology department, molecular expressions of WNT/Beta-catenin signal pathway, COX-2, Kİ67, Tryptase and CD1a were analyzed. RESULTS: Out of 97 cases included in the study, 57 (58.8%) patients were female and 40 (41.2%) were male. Mean age of the patients was 67.9 ± 12.7. Distribution of histologic subtypes was as follows: 60 (61.9%) nodular, 16 (16,5%) infiltrative, 9 (9.3%) superficial, 6 (6.2%) adenoid, 2 (2.1%) keratotic, 2 (2.1%) micronodular, 1 (1%) pleomorphic and 1 (1%) pigmented BCC. WNT, Beta-catenin, COX-2, Kİ67, Tryptase and CD1a molecular expressions were assessed for each one of the cases. CONCLUSION: There were no statistically significant difference of gender and age among BCC subtypes. WNT, COX-2, Kİ67, Tryptase and CD1a molecular expressions were not found to be statistically significant among different subtypes. However, Beta-catenin expression was significantly higher in infiltrative subtype.