CXCR-4 and COX-2 expression in basal cell carcinomas and well-differentiated squamous cell carcinomas of the skin; their relationship with tumor invasiveness and histological subtype.

OBJECTIVE Both CXCR-4 and COX-2 are biological markers that play a significant role in several neoplastic processes. We explored the differences in expression of these markers in certain subtypes of basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinomas in general. MATERIAL AND METHOD In this study, we investigated the differences between 38 patients with basal cell carcinoma (nodular, infiltrative and micro-nodular subtypes) and 24 patients with well-differentiated squamous cell carcinomas with respect to their depth of invasion, tumor location, age, and CXCR-4 and COX-2 expression. RESULTS Statistically, we found no significant difference between squamous cell carcinomas and basal cell carcinoma in terms of CXCR-4 and COX-2 expression; however, the degree of marker expression became stronger with increasing depth of invasion in both tumors. The expression of both markers was also higher in infiltrative type basal cell carcinoma compared to all the other subtypes. The results were statistically significant (p<0.05). Additionally, a significantly positive correlation also existed between COX2 and CXCR4 expression (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION The degree of expression of CXCR-4 and COX-2 is related to invasiveness in both malignancies; thus, infiltrative type of basal cell carcinoma displays the highest degree of CXCR-4 and COX-2 expression among all the subtypes. Furthermore, our results indicate that these two biological markers may both be involved in the process of carcinogenesis and require investigation with further molecular and genetic studies in larger series.