Axillary basal cell carcinoma--a rare form of a frequent kind of carcinoma

Abstract

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common cutaneous cancer. It seems that the most important prognostic factor is exposure to ultraviolet radiation (solar and artificial), correlated with other factors as well. In this article, we aimed to review basal cell carcinoma located in the axilla, referring to cases from our hospital. Axillary location of BCC is rare, with a very low number of cases quoted in the literature, compared to the high prevalence of basal cell carcinoma in the general population. During a period of two years, we detected only four cases of axillary basal cell carcinoma out of a total number of 921 cases diagnosed as BCC. We were interested in identifying certain factors involved in causing BCC, post-excision clinical evolution, histological type and aggressiveness of axillary basal cell carcinoma. Therefore, we quantified objectively the tumor and stromal expression of some immunological markers like: metalloproteinases MMP1, 3, 11, Ber-EP4 and Ki67. Histological types of tumors investigated here belong to the category of non-aggressive BCC, namely as nodular and superficial, although Ki67 index is greater than the average reported in the literature for this type of tumor. MMPs exhibited increased expression in tumors and stromal compartments, especially at the tumor invasion front, and was not associated with tumor ulceration or surrounding tissue remodeling-related changes. Our results confirm the literature data concerning the involvement of MMPs in BCC progression, whatever the tumor location is.