Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor receptors (G-CSFR) have been observed
on the surface of not only hematopoietic cells but also several cancer cel
ls. In the present study, we investigated the expression of G-CSFR or G-CSF
in epithelial skin tumors by immunohistochemical staining. The assessments
were defined by the percentage of G-CSFR or G-CSF positive cells and expre
ssed as G-CSFR and G-CSF scores. The G-CSFR score in SCC (77.6 +/- 20.0%) w
as significantly higher than that in Bowen's disease (BD) (51.0 +/- 35.6%),
actinic keratosis (AK) (49.3 +/- 34.6%) or normal skin (30.0 +/- 32.1%) (P
= 0.0004, P = 0.0003, P < 0.0001, respectively). The mean G-CSF score in S
CC (56.7 +/- 27.4%) or in ED (44.1 +/- 31.4%) was higher than that in norma
l skin (24.9 +/- 25.8%) (P = 0.0075, P < 0.001, respectively). G-CSF expres
sion in AK (29.8 +/- 31.2%) was lower than that in SCC (P = 0.0037). There
was significant positive correlation between the G-CSFR score and the G-CSF
score (gamma = 0.274, P = 0.0107) in skin tumors. These findings suggested
that the assessment of G-CSFR expression might be associated with carcinog
enesis of skin tumors. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights re
served.