Immunohistochemical study of nerve fibres in basal cell carcinoma

Few studies have been made about the influence of the autonomous nervous system on the proliferation of malignant cells. The aim of this work was to investigate if there is any relationship between the aggressiveness of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and the presence of nerve fibres. We studied 20 samples of BCC, classified in two groups: non aggressive and aggressive, according to current criteria of malignancy. We used anti-neurofilament (NF) monoclonal antibody and anti-tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) polyclonal antibody, in order to make immunohistochemical detection of nerve fibres and adrenergic fibres respectively. We performed a semi-quantitative score of the results. Our findings showed the existence of statistically significant differences between both groups studied. The largest number of nerve fibres were found in the less aggressive group, whereas they disappeared in infiltrating aggressive proliferations, independently of the histological pattern.