Bax expression and growth behavior of basal cell carcinomas

To understand the typical growth behavior of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) we searched for the correlation between proliferation and apoptosis and progression of BCC.

Expression of Bcl-2, Bax, and Ki-67 was immunohistochemically investigated in both normal skin and BCC cells, as well as in the epidermis overlying BCC.

The results showed that in normal epidermis, Bcl-2 was homogeneously expressed in the basal cell compartment, whereas Ki-67 expression was largely restricted to the parabasal layer, the layer just above the basal cell layer, and exhibited a more scattered staining pattern. Bax was occasionally expressed in the basal layer and widely in the suprabasal compartment. Strikingly, the apparently normal epidermis overlying BCC showed an increased Bd-2 staining. In BCC, cells stained homogeneously for Bcl-2, whereas Bax and Ki-67 showed scattered staining patterns. Simultaneous expression was seen for Bcl-2 and Bax in 80 +/- 7% of the tumor cells, and co-expression of Bcl-2 and Ki-67 in 20 +/- 7% of the tumor cells. The cells expressing Bcl-2 and Ki-67, but lacking expression of Bax, the progressive fraction, comprised on average 7 +/- 3% of the tumor cell population.

These results suggest that this small progressive fraction of tumor cells, in combination with the relatively high percentage of cells still prone to apoptosis, can explain the indolent growth behavior of BCC.