Increased expression of an epidermal stem cell marker, cytokeratin 19, in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

These results suggest that CK19 expression may be associated with the retention of stem cell characteristics or a state that is uncommitted to terminal squamous differentiation.

Expression of stem cell markers nestin and cytokeratin 15 and 19 in cutaneous malignancies

“…Aberrant expression of CK19 has been reported in oral SCC, and, more recently, in cutaneous SCC. [14][15][16] Chen et al showed that cutaneous SCCs, compared with actinic keratosis and squamous cell carcinoma in situ, expressed CK19 to a greater extent (80%) and this expression correlated with the Ki-67 labelling index. 16 According to the authors, this CK19 overexpression in SCCs reflects the immaturity of the tumour cell lineage as it may disrupt terminal differentiation and preserve stem cell characteristics and the ability of the cells to multiply.…”

“…4,[27][28][29] Although few studies have examined the expression of CK15 and CK19 in basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and SCC, only rarely have nestin expression been examined in the two most common cutaneous malignancies. 5,16,[30][31][32] Furthermore, expression of stem cell markers, to the best of our knowledge, has not been examined in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), which is well known for its expression of both epithelial and neural markers. In this study, we immunohistochemically examined the expression of stem cell markers CK15, CK19 and nestin in BCC, SCC and MCC.…”

“…14,15 More recently, a study showed increased CK19 expression in cutaneous SCC compared with actinic keratosis favouring the concept that epithelial neoplasm development may be related to the population of stem cells harboured. 16 Nestin, an intermediate filament protein expressed in the cytoplasm of neuroepithelial cells, is known to be a marker for neural progenitor cells in the central nervous system. 1,2,5 Recently, this marker has helped to identify a population of neural crest-derived nestin-positive stem cells in the bulge of murine hair follicles.…”

An immunohistochemical comparison of cytokeratin 7, cytokeratin 15, cytokeratin 19, CAM 5.2, carcinoembryonic antigen, and nestin in differentiating porocarcinoma from squamous cell carcinoma

“…A variety of markers have been reported in the diagnosis of porocarcinoma; however, there is overlapping staining pattern seen in SCC (Table 1) [4,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Both porocarcinoma [4,11,12] and SCC [10,11,25] can express EMA.…”

Epidermal stem cells: practical perspectives and potential uses

“…73 Significantly higher CK19 expression has recently been demonstrated in squamous cell carcinoma compared with actinic keratosis or Bowen disease. 74 Nestin and CD133 show significantly higher expression in melanomas compared with benign naevi, and in metastatic compared with primary melanomas. 77 Thus, progression from benign to malignant to metastatic disease appears to be mediated by pathways that restore the stem cell features and characteristics.…”