Expression of Podoplanin in Non-melanoma Skin Cancers and Actinic Keratosis

Background/Aim: Recent studies have indicated that expression of podoplanin changes during the neoplastic processes, we therefore aimed at assessing its expression in cancer and stromal cells of basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and actinic keratosis (AK). Materials and Methods: Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples of 134 patients (38 BCC, 57 SCC, 20 AK and from 19 healthy volunteers) were analyzed. Podoplanin-immunoreactivity was detected in 32.1%/44.7%, 70%/20% and 87.7%/79% for BCC, AK and SCC tumour/stroma cells, respectively. Mean podoplanin expression in tumour cells was 1.2 +/- 1.8, 1.4 +/- 1.1 and 5.6 +/- 3.9 for BCC, AK and SCC, respectively. Mean podoplanin expression in stromal cells was 1.5 +/- 2.3, 0.65 +/- 1.57 and 3.2 +/- 2.4 for BCC, AK and SCC, respectively. Podoplanin expression was significantly higher in SCC stromal cells compared to the rest of the analyzed groups (p<0.001), suggesting a potential role of podoplanin in the development and progression of this malignancy.