Expression of RXR-α in Cutaneous Squamous and Basal Cell Carcinoma

Abdelkareem, Rasha Mokhtar; Abdelnaby, Amira A; Hamdan, Fatma Mohammed; Salah ElDeen, Eman Muhammad

doi:10.21608/smj.2025.407325.1597

Expression of RXR-α in Cutaneous Squamous and Basal Cell Carcinoma

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag university

² pathology department, faculty of medicine, sohag university

³ Pathology department, sohag university Faculty of medicien

⁴ Department of pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University.

10.21608/smj.2025.407325.1597

Abstract

Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) includes various tumors, mainly basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), the most common skin cancers. NMSC are classified into high and low risk groups according to anatomical site and other histopathological criteria. Aim of Study: This study aimed to first: evaluate immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of retinoid x receptor-α (RXR-α) in BCC and cSCC. Second: correlate IHC expression of RXR-α to different clinico-pathological parameters including age, sex, associated inflammation, tumor site, BCC histopathological variants, and cSCC tumor grade. Patients and Methods: This study included 30 cases of BCC and 20 cases of cSCC were tested for RXR-α immune-reactivity scoring system (IRS) based on the percentage positivity and staining intensity. Results: RXR-α expression was detected in 37/50 of all studied cases. Thirty-seven cases showed variable degree of RXR-α expression which was localized to the nucleus. Reduction of RXR-α expression in BCC cases ≥60 years old and associated inflammation. No significant difference was found regarding patient's sex, nature of specimen, histo-pathological variants, risk of recurrence and anatomical sites (p-value >0.05). Reduction of nuclear RXR-α expression was observed in cSCC cases associated with sun exposure, high-risk features, and inflammation. No significant difference was found regarding patient's age, sex, nature of specimen (p-value >0.05). Conclusion: A significant negative linear correlation between nuclear RXR-α expression and cSCC tumor grade support it as a potential prognostic marker in cSCCs. No significant linear correlation was detected between nuclear RXR-α expression and BCC risk of recurrence.

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