Background: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) followed by squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) are the most common non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC). SOX2 is a transcription factor that acts on various phases of embryonic development and its overexpression in many tumors has been reported.
Aim: This work aimed to evaluate the possible role of SOX2 in pathogenesis of non-melanoma skin cancer through its immunohistochemical assessment in BCC and SCC compared to normal skin and correlating its expression with the established prognostic factors.
Methods: The investigated cases were 24 BCC, 21 SCC, and 26 normal skin specimens.
Results: SOX2 was not expressed in normal skin, but it was upregulated in SCC (85.7%) and BCC (66.7%), with a significant difference between malignant cases and normal skin (p < 0.001). However, SOX2 expression did not differ between SCC and BCC. SOX2 expression was associated with large-sized tumors in all malignant cases (BCC plus SCC) (p = 0.02) and in SCC (p = 0.043) alone together with its liability to be expressed in advanced stage in SCC (p = 0.063).
Conclusions: SOX2 was over-expressed in cutaneous SCC and BCC without a significant difference. SOX2 may enhance progression of NMSC manifested by its association with large tumor size and advanced stage.
Keywords: BCC; SCC; SOX2; immunohistochemistry.
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