Comparison of COX2 expression in radiation induced basal cell carcinoma and non-radiation induced basal cell carcinoma

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, weset out to assess the expression of COX2 in these lesions.

In this study, COX2 expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry using anti-COX2 antibody on paraffinembedded blocks of 86 patients referred to Emam Reza Hospitalin Mashhad with BCC diagnosis by pathological examination (43 patients with and 43 without a history of radiotherapy) followed by semi-quantitative evaluation of COX2.

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 theintensity and percentage of staining with sex, age, site of lesion, recurrence, and pathology of the tumor.

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.