Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Jan 2;6(1):6.
doi: 10.3390/biomedicines6010006.

Non Melanoma Skin Cancer Pathogenesis Overview

Dario Didona  1 , Giovanni Paolino  2 , Ugo Bottoni  3 , Carmen Cantisani  4
Affiliations
Review

Non Melanoma Skin Cancer Pathogenesis Overview

Dario Didona et al. Biomedicines. .

Abstract

(1) Background: Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in humans. The process of skin carcinogenesis is still not fully understood. However, several studies have been conducted to better explain the mechanisms that lead to malignancy; (2) Methods: We reviewed the more recent literature about the pathogenesis of non-melanoma skin cancer focusing on basal cell carcinomas, squamous cell carcinoma and actinic keratosis; (3) Results: Several papers reported genetic and molecular alterations leading to non-melanoma skin cancer. Plenty of risk factors are involved in non-melanoma skin cancer pathogenesis, including genetic and molecular alterations, immunosuppression, and ultraviolet radiation; (4) Conclusion: Although skin carcinogenesis is still not fully understood, several papers demonstrated that genetic and molecular alterations are involved in this process. In addition, plenty of non-melanoma skin cancer risk factors are now known, allowing for an effective prevention of non-melanoma skin cancer development. Compared to other papers on the same topic, our review focused on molecular and genetic factors and analyzed in detail several factors involved in non-melanoma skin cancer.

Keywords: actinic keratosis; pathogenesis; precancerous conditions; skin neoplasms.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Factors involved in non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC) pathogenesis. UV: Ultraviolet; HPV: Human papilloma virus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Leiter U., Eigentler T., Garbe C. Epidemiology of skin cancer. Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 2014;810:120–140. - PubMed
    1. Apalla Z., Nashan D., Weller R.B., Castellsagué X. Skin Cancer: Epidemiology, Disease Burden, Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Therapeutic Approaches. Dermatol. Ther. 2017;7:5–19. doi: 10.1007/s13555-016-0165-y. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Calzavara-Pinton P., Ortel B., Venturini M. Non-melanoma skin cancer, sun exposure and sun protection. G. Ital. Dermatol. Venereol. 2015;150:369–378. - PubMed
    1. Gloster H.M., Jr., Brodland D.G. The epidemiology of skin cancer. Dermatol. Surg. 1996;22:217–226. doi: 10.1111/j.1524-4725.1996.tb00312.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Paulitschke V., Gerner C., Hofstätter E., Mohr T., Mayer R.L., Pehamberger H., Kunstfeld R. Proteome profiling of keratinocytes transforming to malignancy. Electrophoresis. 2015;36:564–576. doi: 10.1002/elps.201400309. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources