Evaluation of Patched-1 Protein Expression Level in Low Risk and High Risk Basal Cell Carcinoma Subtypes

Almomani, Rowida; Khanfar, Mariam; Bodoor, Khaldon; Al-Qarqaz, Firas; Alqudah, Mohammad; Hammouri, Hanan; Abu-Salah, Asma; Haddad, Yazan; Al Gargaz, Wisam; Mohaidat, Ziyad

doi:10.31557/APJCP.2019.20.9.2851

Evaluation of Patched-1 Protein Expression Level in Low Risk and High Risk Basal Cell Carcinoma Subtypes

Document Type : Research Articles

Authors

¹ Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.

² Department of Applied Biology, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.

³ Department of Dermatology, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.

⁴ Department of Pathology, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.

⁵ Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science and Arts, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.

⁶ Orthopedic Surgery Division, Special Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.

10.31557/APJCP.2019.20.9.2851

Abstract

Objective: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common malignancy in humans and represents a growing
public health care problem. The major etiological factors contributing to BCC development are exposure to ultraviolet
radiation and genetic alterations. BCC is primarily caused by dysregulation of sonic Hedgehog (HH) signaling pathway
in basal cells of the skin. BCC can be classified into low risk non-aggressive and high risk aggressive subtypes. BCC
subtypes differentiation is essential for prognosis and for better disease management and treatment strategies. The
aim of this study was to assess the correlation between PTCH1 protein expression level and the aggressiveness of
BCC histopathology. Methods: Archival paraffin embedded blocks containing BCC were retrieved from a cohort of
101 patients. Immunohistochemistry staining was performed to assess the expression level of PTCH1 which is a key
component of Hedgehog pathway. Results: 101 paraffin embedded samples were evaluated and classified as high risk
and low risk BCC subtypes by histopathological finding. High risk BCC subtypes were found in 40 samples (39.6%)
and low risk subtypes were identified in 61 samples (60.4%). Nodular was the most frequent subtype which was found
in (56/ 101), followed by infiltrative (22/101) and micronodular (14/ 101) subtypes. Positive PTCH1 expression was
found highest in nodular subtypes (46.5%). Conclusion: In this study, the correlation between low risk or high risk
BCC subtypes and PTCH1 expression level was not statistically significant (p>0.05), but the frequency of positive
PTCH1 expression was found to be higher in low risk subtypes than high risk BCC subtypes.

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