Immunohistochemical study of inducible nitric oxide synthase in skin cancers.
BACKGROUND
Nitric oxide (NO) is synthesized from the amino acid L-arginine by NO synthase (NOS). Experimental evidence suggests that increased express of inducible NOS (iNOS), which is an NOS isoform and calcium independent, is related to various pathological processes, such as inflammation and cancer.


METHODS
In this study, we used immunohistochemistry to investigate iNOS expression in a series of basal cell carcinomas (BCC), Bowen's disease, squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), extramammary Paget's disease (EPD) and metastatic tumors of the skin.


RESULTS
Only 1 of 16 BCC cases was positive for iNOS and the intensity of staining was weak. In most of the 10 cases of Bowen's disease, iNOS was weakly expressed and there was a wide range in the percentage of positive tumor cells. Twelve of the 16 cases of SCC were positive for iNOS and the extent of positivity was greater than in Bowen's disease. Two of the 7 cases of EPD were positive for iNOS, and 12 of the 15 cases of metastatic cancer were positive. Well-differentiated adenocarcinomas were diffusely positive, whereas poorly-differentiated ones showed strong and heterogeneous staining.


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicated that the expression of iNOS may reflect the proliferation of tumor cells and that a heterogeneous distribution of iNOS may correlate with a wide variety of biological behavior of tumor cells.
Kagoura
M
M
Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Toyama, Japan. kago@ms.toyama-mpu.ac.jp
Matsui
C
C
Toyoda
M
M
Morohashi
M
M
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000201:enzymology / Q000556:secondary; D001913:Bowen's Disease / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D002455:Cell Division; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000032:analysis*; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D010145:Paget Disease, Extramammary / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology
C496319:NOS2 protein, human; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II