Immunohistochemical Expression of P53 and Ki-67 in Different Histopathological Variants of Basal Cell Carcinoma

Background: Basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of skin cancer in men. Increased marker expressions of apoptosis and cell proliferation have been found in the majority of basal cell carcinomas. Our purpose was to determine whether any correlation between immunohistochemical expressions of P53 and Ki-67 in different histopathological variants of basal cell carcinoma and patient’s age, gender and tumor localization existed. Methods: We evaluated basal cell skin specimens obtained from 100 previously diagnosed cases of basal cell carcinoma at the Dermatology Clinic of Farshchian Hospital, Hamadan, Western Iran. At first the specimens were fixed by formalin and stained by hematoxylin-eosin. Histopathological types of the tumor were determined. Immunohistochemical expressions of Ki- 67and P53 were examined. Clinical features of the patients such as age, gender, and lesion site were collected from their files. Results: The specimens were obtained from 62 (62%) men and 38 (38%) women with an age range of 22-107 years. Of basal cell carcinoma specimens, 76% expressed P53 and 60% expressed Ki-67. There was strong staining intensity of P53 protein in 70% and Ki-67 antigen in 30% of specimens. Strong staining intensity of Ki-67 in patients of lower ages was significantly correlated. There was no statistically significant correlation between these markers and other variables (P > 0.05). Conclusion: This study highlighted the value of P53 and Ki-67 markers in basal cell carcinoma. We did not observe any significant difference between the histopathological types based on the P53 and Ki-67 expressions and their staining intensities.