Contribution to characterization of skin field cancerization activity: morphometric, chromatin texture, proliferation, and apoptosis aspects

Abstract

BackgroundA skin field cancerization is a cutaneous area with subclinical changes resultant from chronic sun exposure, with a higher predisposition to development of pre-neoplastic and neoplastic lesions. So far, there are no well-defined objective parameters that can indicate their degree of activity.ObjectivesTo describe and compare morphometric aspects and expression of factors related to apoptosis and cell proliferation in actinic keratosis (AK), in both photoexposed and photoprotected epidermis.MethodsA cross-sectional study of patients with actinic keratosis in the forearms, biopsied at two points: the actinic keratosis and the axillary region. The biopsies of the actinic keratosis, perilesional area, and axilla were evaluated through keratinocyte intraepithelial neoplasia (KIN), and immunohistochemistry of p53, survivin, and Ki67. Nuclear morphometry of basal layer cells was performed through digital image analysis: entropy, area, perimeter, Ra, fractal dimension, circularity, color intensity, and largest diameter.ResultsThere were 13 patients included and 38 actinic keratosis biopsied. In morphometry, 1039 nuclei were analyzed, of which 228 represented axillary skin, 396 demonstrated actinic keratosis, and 415 represented the perilesional area to the actinic keratosis. There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in all variables tested for the topographies evaluated. A significant correlation was identified between nucellar morphometric elements, KIN, proliferation markers, and apoptosis. Joint patterns of p53, Ki67, and KIN discriminated the topographies sampled.Study limitationsThis was a cross-sectional study with a small number of patients.ConclusionsThere are patterns of proliferation, resistance to apoptosis, and different cellular morphometrics between photoprotected skin and photoexposed skin. The joint expression of p53, Ki67, and KIN can characterize skin field cancerization activity.

Oral mTOR Inhibition Limits And Reduces Actinic Keratosis And Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma In A UVB-Induced Mouse Model

“…Similar to our epidermal thickness analysis, we developed automated pipelines for detecting and segmenting cells that were positive for these molecular targets ( Supplemental Figure 2 ). It is well established that an increase in the proliferation of keratinocytes (Ki67+) in the cancer field, particularly in regions that are distal from the dermal-epidermal junction (DEJ), correlates with an increased risk of developing keratosis 44 . Figure 5a shows representative Ki67 immunostaining of a cancer field section taken from a vehicle control animal.…”

Scientific Research Directions on the Histopathology and Immunohistochemistry of the Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Scientometric Study

“…Riihila et al demonstrated in their study the importance of complement components C1r and C1s in cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas in terms of progression. This highlights the importance of targeted novel treatments for cSCCs [ 43 ]. Roper et al showed that PD-L1 expression is usually observed in cSCC primary tumors and in TILs (tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes).…”

“…For assessing the impact of and to establish the research directions for squamous cell carcinomas, we used the scientometric method [ 3 , 4 ]. A set of instructions was defined based on the keywords from the 76 articles we assessed [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , …”

Efficacy of oral Polypodium leucotomos, colchicine cream and ingenol mebutate in the treatment of actinic keratoses and cutaneous field cancerization: a randomized clinical trial

“…The loss of nuclear polarization contributes to the characterization of CFC activity. 10 The reduction of KIN by colchicine is evidence of its effects on keratinocyte proliferation. This same parameter was evaluated in a previous study, with similar results after 60 days of treatment.…”