Sun-Exposed versus Sun-Protected Cutaneous Basal Cell Carcinoma: Clinico-Pathological Profile and p16 Immunostaining

Abstract

Introduction: Although widespread, BCC is still relatively poorly understood in regards to pathogenesis and prognosis, particularly the lesions formed on anatomical sites away from sun exposure. With the aim of deepening our understanding of the pathogenesis and clinico-pathological correlations of BCCs, we conducted this study. Methods: Tissue blocks and data of 52 Egyptian patients diagnosed with BCC were retrieved for clinical information and inclusion criteria, then re-examined histologically; p16 immunostaining was carried out and evaluated for analysis and comparison between the two groups, i.e., sun-exposed and sun-protected. Results: Sex, age, clinical suspicion, tumor size, recurrence status, and histologic variants did not show a significant difference between the sun-protected and sun-exposed groups; however, the mean ages recorded were 67.2 vs. 62.7 for the sun-protected and sun-exposed groups, respectively. A total of 52% of BCCs were positive for p16. The sun-protected lesions showed p16 positivity in 61% of cases, whereas 49% of the sun-exposed lesions were positive with no significant difference. There was a significant difference in p16 expression between the recurrent and non-recurrent lesions. Conclusions: A significant difference was seen in the case of cancer recurrence, where all the recurrent BCCs in this study demonstrated negative p16 immunostaining of the primary lesions; however, the positively stained cases in total were 52% of BCCs. The mean patient age of the sun-protected group was much higher than in previous peer studies. We assume that the biological, prognostic, and clinical aspects of p16 protein expression in BCCs are still far from being clearly understood. Further studies are highly recommended, with more focus on its role in the pathogenesis and the prognostic factors.

Aesthetic Reconstruction Based on Facial Subunit Principle for Basal Cell Carcinoma of the Face: A Retrospective Analysis

“…Notably, people with dark skin usually show signs of BCC later on, because telangiectasia and the raised pearly border, which are signs of BCC, are harder to see in them. Pigmented tumors are also more frequent in individuals with darker skin, with a 44.2% incidence rate compared to an average of 5% in the Caucasian population [ 21 , 22 ]. The nose, eyelid, and cheek were the most frequently affected sites in our series regarding BCC involvement.…”

Clinico-Pathological Features and Immunohistochemical Comparison of p16, p53, and Ki-67 Expression in Muscle-Invasive and Non-Muscle-Invasive Conventional Urothelial Bladder Carcinoma

“…We did not find a significant difference between MIBC and NIBC or between both grades except when differentiating between the papillary group and non-papillary, where the papillary lesions showed a significant difference between p16 expression in high grade compared to the low grade and in MIBC versus NMIBC which may raise the attention of histological pattern significance in conventional UCs. p16 immunohistochemical marker was recently tested in a few types of cancers in Egyptian patients revealing a potential role in carcinogenesis such as colorectal cancers [ 60 ], basal cell carcinoma [ 61 ], ovarian germ cell tumors [ 62 ], and cervical carcinoma [ 63 ].…”

Nevus Sebaceous of Jadassohn in Adults—Can Reflectance Confocal Microscopy Detect Malignant Transformation?

“…Clinically, BCC can manifest in a variety of ways, but often it looks like a pink papule or nodule with a transparent surface and telangiectasias located most frequently in areas exposed to the sun. However, other anatomical sites are not protected [ 8 , 10 ].…”