An immunohistological study of benign and malignant skin tumours: epithelial aspects.

Biopsies of normal skin and benign and malignant skin tumours were studied immunohistologically with nine monoclonal antibodies. The study showed that monoclonal antibodies can clearly delineate antigens expressed in different regions of normal skin and that, in general, tumours retain the antigenic pattern characteristic of the region from which they have arisen. These findings indicate the potential value of analysing these patterns of antigenic expression with a panel of monoclonal antibodies both for understanding the pathogenesis of skin tumours (e.g. basal cell carcinomas) and in their differential diagnosis (e.g. squamous cell carcinoma versus keratoacanthoma).