Distinct Transcriptomic Landscapes of Cutaneous Basal Cell Carcinomas and Squamous Cell Carcinomas

This study analyzed gene expression profiles of keratinocyte carcinomas, specifically basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), using paired specimens with matched normal skin tissues as controls. It revealed that BCC had a significant up-regulation of zinc finger encoding genes and identified a novel link between hedgehog signaling, Wnt signaling, and the cilium. The study found that while the SCC cancer-stem-cell gene signature was shared between human and mouse SCCs, the hair follicle stem-cell signature in mice was not well-represented in human SCC. Additionally, differential gene expression in human BCC shared a gene signature with both bulge and epidermal stem cells. The research concluded that human BCCs and SCCs have distinct gene expression patterns, some of which are not fully captured by current mouse models.