Does the Autophagy Related Gene 7 (ATG7) Have a Role in Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer?

Rehab M Samaka; Mohammed A Basha; Eman Mansour

doi:10.2147/CCID.S222051

Does the Autophagy Related Gene 7 (ATG7) Have a Role in Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer?

Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2020 Jan 20:13:49-58. doi: 10.2147/CCID.S222051. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Rehab M Samaka¹, Mohammed A Basha², Eman Mansour³

Affiliations

¹ Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Al Minufya, Egypt.
² Dermatology, Andrology and STDs Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Al Minufya, Egypt.
³ Ministry of Health, El Menshawy General Hospital, Tanta, Egypt.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the role of autophagy related gene 7 (ATG7) in non-melanoma skin cancer.

Subjects and methods: This retrospective and prospective case-control study was performed on 104 patients with non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in addition to 20 apparently healthy subjects matched for age and sex as a control group. Multiple skin biopsies were taken for immunohistochemical evaluation of ATG7 expression.

Results: Both epithelial and stromal ATG7 were expressed in all participants while all patients showed nucleocytoplasmic localization and controls showed both cytoplasmic and nucleocytoplasmic expression. In addition, significantly higher H-scores of ATG7 in both epithelium and stroma were detected in patients compared to controls (P<0.001).

Conclusion: ATG7 nucleocytoplasmic topographic localization might be involved in the pathogenesis of NMSC, which can open the gate for new target therapy for this skin cancer.

Keywords: BCC; NMSC; SCC; autophagy; autophagy related gene 7.