Comparison of EMA,CEA, CD10 and Bcl-2 Biomarkers by Immunohistochemistry in Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Basal Cell Carcinoma of the Skin

Background: Basal and squamous cell carcinoma (BCC and SCC) are the most common skin cancers worldwide and distinction between the two may sometimes be very difficult in routine histopathology. The present study was aimed to evaluate a reliable diagnostic method for these cancers based on immunohistochemistry (IHC).

Materials And Methods: IHC was used with antibodies to Bcl-2, CD10, CEA, and EMA biomarkers, which despite non-specificity are easily available for detection of various types of tumors in pathology sections and can be used as a panel for differentiation. In this descriptive and analytic study, paraffin- embedded blocks of 29 SCC patients and 29 BCC patients were collected and sectioned for IHC staining. The results were analyzed by the STATA (version 8) statistical package using the Chi-square test.

Results: BCC patients were 100%, 75.8%, 0% and 0% positive for Bcl-2, CD10, CEA and EMA markers, respectively, and for SCC patients were 3.5%, 0%, 34.5% and 82.7% positive, respectively. Using simultaneously Bcl-2 and CD10 as positive markers, detection of BCC with 88% accuracy and 100% specificity was possible, while application of CEA and EMA positivity could detect SCC with 67% accuracy and 100% specificity.

Conclusions: SCC and BCC have different immunostaining profiles; therefore, Bcl-2, CD10, CEA and EMA markers can be helpful to distinguish between them.