Immunohistochemical evaluation of E-cadherin expression in basal cell carcinoma of the skin

Introduction: E-cadherin is important cell-cell adhesion molecule, that plays a crucial role in the maintenance of tissue microarchitecture. In many human malignancies, reduced or loss of E-cadherin production in neoplastic cells correlates with tumor dedifferentiation and acquisition of the invasive and metastatic potential. In contrast to most other cancers, basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of the skin possess some unique features, such as slow local growth, strong stroma-dependency, and virtual absence of metastases. Aim: In the present study, we immunohistochemically evaluated expression of E-cadherin in a set of cutaneous BCCs. Material and methods: Study group consisted of 41 primary BCCs cathegorized into non-infiltrative subroup (superfical and nodular subtypes) and infiltrative subroup (nodular-infiltrative and infiltrative subtypes). Results: E-cadherin was expressed in all tumor specimens with variable quantitative range and intensity. There were 19 cases (46.3 %) with preserved and 22 cases (53.7 %) with reduced E-cadherin expression. In superficial, nodular, nodular-infiltrative and infiltrative BCC subtypes, reduced E-cadherin immunoreactivity was found in 40 % (2/5), 56.2 % (9/16), 54.5 % (6/11) and 55.5 % (5/9), respectively. We did not confirm a significant correlation between expression of E-cadherin and both given, non-infiltrative and infiltrative BCC subgroup. None of the tumors examined showed apparent decreasing immunostaining intensity in tumor tissue with increasing depth of invasion. There were not convincing differences either between the central and peripheral parts of tumor mass, or in the vertical dimension. Conclusions: Reduction of E-cadherin expression per se does not seem to directly contribute to the acqusition of more aggressive phenotype in cutaneous BCC. This may represent another peculiarity, by which BCC differs from the most other epithelial malignancies and reflect a distinct tumor biology