Solar damage in skin tumors: quantification of elastotic material.
BACKGROUND
The elastotic changes of the dermis are thought to be the primary indicator of the cumulative sun exposure of the dermis. The changes of elastotic material have been evaluated by several previous methods, but these did not quantitatively measure the amount of elastic tissue.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to quantify dermal elastosis and to assess the significance of sun exposure in the pathogenesis of nonmelanomatous skin tumors such as basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and Bowen's disease (BD).


METHODS
Ninety-nine sections from biopsy specimens of histopathologically proven BCC, SCC and BD were stained with Verhoeff-van Gieson stains. We studied the amount of elastotic material adjacent to the tumor by image analysis.


RESULTS
There was a 3- to 4-fold increase in the amount of elastotic material in BCC and SCC compared to the sun-exposed skin of normal controls (p < 0.0001). The amount of elastotic material was increased 1.3 times in BD as compared with the nonexposed skins of normal controls (p < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
We demonstrated a quantitative relationship between cumulative solar exposure and skin cancer such as SCC, BCC and BD.
Moon
J S
JS
Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
Oh
C H
CH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001913:Bowen's Disease / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004547:Elastic Tissue / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015595:Skin Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D013472:Sunlight / Q000009:adverse effects*