title: Is There a Relationship between the Stratum Corneum Thickness and That of the Viable Parts of Tumour Cells in Basal Cell Carcinoma?
abstract: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is an invasive epithelial skin tumour. The thickness of the outermost epidermal layer of the skin, the stratum corneum (SC), influences drug uptake and penetration into tumour and may thereby affect the response of BCC to topical treatment. The aim was to investigate a possible relationship between the thickness of the SC and that of the viable part of BCC. Histopathological evaluations of the corresponding SC and viable tumour thickness measurements of individual BCCs of different subtypes were explored. A total of 53 BCCs from 46 patients were studied. The median tumour thickness was 1.7 mm (0.8-3.0 mm), with a significant difference between subtypes (p < 0.001). The SC had a median thickness of 0.3 mm (0.2-0.4 mm), with no difference between tumour subtypes (p = 0.415). Additionally, no significant association between the thickness of the SC and that of the viable part of the tumour was demonstrated (p = 0.381). In conclusion our results indicate that SC thickness is relatively constant in BCC.
authors.affiliation: Orthopaedic Research Centre, Clinic of Orthopaedy, Rheumatology and Dermatology, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital, Trondheim 7030, Norway.
authors.forename: Olav A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Foss
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7030, Norway; Department of Pathology and Medical Genetics, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital, Trondheim 7030, Norway.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mjønes
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø 9019, Norway.
authors.forename: Silje
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fismen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7030, Norway; Department of Dermatology, Clinic of Orthopaedy, Rheumatology and Dermatology, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital, Trondheim 7030, Norway.
authors.forename: Eidi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Christensen