Immunohistochemical FHIT expression still exists in early lesions of basal cell carcinoma

In this study, we evaluated the expression of Fragile Histidine Triad (FHIT) in basal cell carcinoma (BCC). The FHIT locus was found to be altered in numerous types of cancer [6,7,18,20,22,25,26]. However, we found only one study dealing with FHIT expression in BCC [11]. In our study, we used immunohistochemical methods for the evaluation of FHIT expression in tissue samples of 42 BCC cases. The control group was formed by intradermal melanocytic nevi (IMN). Ki-67 labeling index was used to compare cellular proliferation of BCC with internal and external controls. The study group was further separated into two subgroups, according to the intensity of FHIT staining. The Ki-67 indexes of these subgroups were also compared with each other. As a primary result, there was no significant decrease in FHIT expression in early lesions of BCC. As a second finding, there was no correlation between the intensity of FHIT staining and Ki-67 labeling index. As a third finding, there was no difference in Ki-67 labeling index between early lesions of BCC and non-neoplastic epidermis. The results were unexpected, since FHIT expression has been reported to be lost in an above mentioned study [11]. We concluded that FHIT expression remains to be positive, at least in early lesions of BCC.