Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 expression in basal cell carcinoma, actinic keratosis and Bowen’s disease

Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) is an enzyme responsible for oxidizing aldehydes to carbonic acids. ALDH1 is an isoform that is thought to be a stem cell marker as it is highly expressed in the stem cells of various organs. However, its expression in basal cell carcinoma (BCC), actinic keratosis (AK) and Bowen’s disease (BD) of the skin has not yet been analyzed. Twenty-five consecutive operative cases each of BCC, AK and BD, as well as 10 normal skin tissues were assessed for ALDH1 expression by immunohistochemistry. In normal skin, ALDH1 expression was observed in the suprabasal cells of the follicular infundibulum, inner cells of the outer root sheath and sebocytes. BCC cases (88%) showed no or focal-positive immunoreactivity for ALDH1. Focal immunopositivity for ALDH1 was observed in 44% of AK cases, while the remaining cases were ALDH1-negative. By contrast, diffuse positive immunoreactivity for ALDH1 was observed in 64% of BD cases. Differential expression patterns of ALDH1 in AK and BD may reflect the distinct cells of origin of these two conditions. Moreover, a low ALDH1 expression in BCC may also reflect the possible origin of BCC, the basal cells of the outer root sheath.