Light microscopic autoradiographical analysis of [125I]epidermal growth factor binding in basal cell epithelioma and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin.

Levels of epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor expression were investigated in five basal cell epitheliomas (BCEs) and 10 primary lesions from squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the skin, using light microscopic autoradiography with [125I]EGF. All of the BCEs were clinically the pigmented type and histologically the solid type. All of them showed an EGF binding level similar to that of the basal and suprabasal layers of the normal epidermis. The SCCs included one case of Bowen's disease (SCC in situ), five of the well differentiated type, three of the moderately differentiated type and one of the poorly differentiated type. Eight of the 10 SCCs showed an EGF binding level similar to that of the normal epidermal basal and suprabasal cell layers. One of the two remaining SCCs, a moderately differentiated type, showed highly increased EGF binding. The other one, a poorly differentiated type, showed very little EGF binding in a large region consisting of poorly differentiated cells, although a small area composed of more differentiated, nest-forming cells had an EGF binding level similar to that of the basal and suprabasal cells. Metastasis was found in three of these 10 SCCs after surgery. Two of the three SCCs with metastasis showed increased or decreased EGF binding levels in primary lesions as described above; in contrast, primary lesions of the seven SCCs without metastasis had EGF binding levels similar to those of the normal epidermal basal and suprabasal cells. Abnormally increased or decreased EGF binding level in SCC of the skin may be indicative of a poor prognosis, although it is necessary to examine more SCCs to confirm this assumption.