Presence of interferon regulatory factor-1 in aggressive and nonaggressive histological variants of basal cell carcinoma specimens

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Expression of Interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1) has been demonstrated in a variety of cancers previously. To the best of our knowledge, there is only one report about the IRF-1 expression in basal cell carcinoma (BCC) specimens, which has demonstrated increased expression of the IRF-1 gene in BCC versus normal skin. Furthermore, IRF-1 expression has not been compared between aggressive and nonaggressive subtypes of BCC before. AIMS: Our aim is to examine the relation between IRF-1 staining patterns of aggressive and nonaggressive histological subtypes of BCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-seven archival tissue specimens from 33 BCC patients were stained for cytoplasmic and nuclear IRF-1. Twenty-five tumors were grouped as nonaggressive and 12 were grouped as aggressive histological variants, according to the established criteria. RESULTS: IRF-1 was not only expressed in tumor cells, but also in some surrounding inflammatory cells. There was no significant difference between the groups for cytoplasmic or nuclear IRF-1 staining. Aggressive or nonaggressive histological subtypes did not show any statistical difference for gender, relapse, treatment method, or localization. When staining was compared with gender, relapse, treatment method, localization, and tumor grades, no significant difference was found. CONCLUSIONS: Interferon seems to be expressed in BCCs with both aggressive and non aggressive histology. Further studies are needed to elaborate the precise diagnostic and prognostic roles and utility of interferon in the treatment of BCC.