BASAL CELL CARCINOMA is the, most common skin cancer that has nodular, superficial, micronodular, Morpheaform, pigmented, metatypical and fibroepithelioma of Pinkus subtypes. In this report, we evaluated the efficacy of cryosurgery with liquid nitrogen for BASAL CELL CARCINOMA in three patients. The response was good and patients were followed regularly. There were no recurrences after 25 months follow-up. This method is fast and appropriate for certain types of BASAL CELL CARCINOMAs.      

Zinc has an important role in skin health and its deficiency reduces immunity to evaluate levels of zinc in squamous CELL CARCINOMA (SCC) and BASAL CELL CARCINOMA (BCC) of skin, we studied 44 BCC and 38 SCC cases together with 33 controls. Blood samples were taken and after separation of serum, levels of zinc, albumin and total protein were measured by atomic absorption albumin kit and reflectometer consecutively. Serum globulin levels were estimated by subtracting albumin from total protein levels. Zinc levels were significantly lower in cancer cases than control (P<0.001). Mean serum albumin of BCC cases was significantly more than controls (P<0.01), but in BCC cases was not significantly different. Significant correlations were seen between levels of serum zinc and albumin of SCC (r=0.507, P<0.01) and BCC(r=0.43, P<0.01) patients and controls(r=0.35,P<0.01). Mean globulin levels in cancer cases were significantly lower than control group (P<0.01).We concluded that serum zinc and globulin levels decrease in BCC and SCC of skin.

A 15-year-old man was referred to our department with multiple lesions on the scalp, neck, abdomen, and back which -were proved to be BASAL CELL CARCINOMAs. The patient had a history of craniotomy at 3 years of age for exision of a cerebellar medulloblastoma, followed by cranioaxis irradiation post-operatively. On physical examination, hypertelorism, broad nose bridge and a slightly bulged out chest cage were noted. Chest X-ray revealed deformity of the chest wall. A diagnosis of nevoid BASAL CELL CARCINOMA (NBCC) syndrome was made.

Background & Aim: Tumour angiogenesis is essential for tumour growth and appears to play an important role both in invasive growth and metastasis. BASAL CELL CARCINOMAs(BCCs) and squamous CELL CARCINOMAs(SCCs) of the skin are derived from a similar CELL type but differ in the invasive and metastatic potential. This study investigates whether the behaviour of these tumours could be explained by differences in their angiogenesis patterns. Material & Method: Vessel counts were made of blood vessels in the stroma and the body of 32 BCCs, 15 SCCs, and 4 normal skin samples, both after H&E(Hematoxylin and Eosin) and immunohistochemical staining using CD31 monoclonal antibody. Results: The stromal(P<0.0001) and body(P<0.0001) counts for SCCs differed significantly from the counts for BCCs. There was a correlation between the vascular density and degree of differentiation in SCC samples(P=0.002). The stromal(P<0.0001) and body(P<0.0001) counts for BCCs differed significantly in invasive and non-invasive groups. Conclusion: The microvascular density is correlated with invasive growth pattern and metastasis of skin SCCs and BCCs. It seems that the vessels in the tumour body play a more important role

BASAL CELL CARCINOMA (BCC) is currently the most common cutaneous cancer - found in humans. Although it generally shows a relatively benign course (BCC1), some cases show aggressive behavior (BCC2). Until recently, traditional histologic diagnostic criteria have failed to discriminate unequivocally between BCC1and BCC2. In this study we selected 50 cases of BCC and categorized them into two groups (BCC1 and BCC2) on the basis of histologic criteria and then examined the rate of angiogenesis to establish if it correlates with their histological features and/or clinical behavior. The vessels were highlighted by immunohistochemical staining for factor VІІІ-related antigen in formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues. All 25 cases of BCC2, whose clinical behavior was aggressive had microvessel counts significantly higher than that of the BCC1 group with mean values of 50.24 and 20.9 for BCC2 and BCC1 respectively. But there were eight cases of morphological BCCI who had aggressive clinical behavior and interestingly had microvessel counts higher than the other cases of BCC1. The findings of the present study seem to establish a correlation between tumor angiogenesis and clinicobiological parameters of aggressiveness. From this point of view the assay of microvessel density might be helpful in selecting patients with BCCs at high risk for recurrence or metastasis, who could benefit from additional therapies and closer followup.

Background: Radiation-induced BASAL CELL CARCINOMA (BCC) can be multiple, large, and recurring, which complicates its treatment in some cases. According to reports on the role of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) inhibitors in the treatment or prevention of non-melanoma skin cancers and considering the fact that COX2 expression has not been evaluated in radiation-induced BASAL CELL CARCINOMA, we set out to assess the expression of COX2 in these lesions. Methods: In this study, COX2 expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry using anti-COX2 antibody on paraffinembedded blocks of 86 patients referred to Emam Reza Hospital in Mashhad with BCC diagnosis by pathological examination (43 patients with and 43 without a history of radiotherapy) followed by semi-quantitative evaluation of COX2. Results: In our study, COX2 expression score was significantly higher in patients with a history of radiotherapy than those without radiotherapy (P<0. 001). No correlation was found between the intensity and percentage of staining with sex, age, site of lesion, recurrence, and pathology of the tumor. Conclusion: Given the higher expression level of COX2 in the radiation-induced BCC patients, the use of COX2 inhibitors in these individuals may be effective in the incidence, recurrence, or treatment of BCC.

BASAL CELL CARCINOMA (BCC) is the most common cancer of the skin. Definite diagnosis usually requires histological examination but recently it has been suggested that cytological examination of skin smear can be used as an alternative. To evaluate sensitivity and specificity of cytological examination, a total of 125 skin lesions, clinically suspected to be BCC were studied. Cytological samples were taken by scraping a scalpel blade over the lesion and smearing the CELLs on to a glass slide. The specimens were air- dried and stained with May-Grünwald-Giemsa. An incision biopsy was performed for histopathological study. The cytological results were compared with the histopathological results of the lesions. Histopathology revealed BCC in 102 lesions (81.6%), squamousCELL CARCINOMA (SCC) in 11 lesions (8.8%), seborrheic keratosis in 6 lesions (4.8%), actinic keratosis in 5 lesions (4%) and keratoacanthoma in 1 lesion (0.8%). Cytological examination reported BCC in 90(72%), SCC in 13 ( 10.4%) and seborrheic keratosis in 6 lesions (4.8%) and was non-diagnostic in 16 lesions (12.8%). The sensitivity and specificity of the cytology in identifying all of the BCC types were 87.3% and 95.3%, respectively. In conclusion, cytological examination is easy to perform, saves time, requires a minimum of equipments and can be considered a reliable method in the diagnosis of suspected cutaneous BCC.