Solar damage in skin tumors: Quantification of elastotic material

Background: The elastotic changes of the dermis are thought to be the primary indicator of the cumulative sun exposure of the dermis. The changes of elastotic material have been evaluated by several previous methods, but these did not quantitatively measure the amount of elastic tissue. Objective: The purpose of this study was to quantify dermal elastosis and to assess the significance of sun exposure in the pathogenesis of nonmelanomatous skin tumors such as basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and Bowen's disease (BD). Methods: Ninety-nine sections from biopsy specimens of histopathologically proven BCC, SCC and BD were stained with Verhoeff-van Gieson stains. We studied the amount of elastotic material adjacent to the tumor by image analysis. Results: There was a 3- to 4-fold increase in the amount of elastotic material in BCC and SCC compared to the sun-exposed skin of normal controls (p < 0.0001). The amount of elastotic material was increased 1.3 times in BD as compared with the non-exposed skins of normal controls (p < 0.01). Conclusion: We demonstrated a quantitative relationship between cumulative solar exposure and skin cancer such as SCC, BCC and BD.