Differential diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma and benign tumors of cutaneous appendages originating from hair follicles by using CD34.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Differential diagnosis of the group of benign trichoblastomas, trichofolliculomas, trichoadenomas and trichoepitheliomas, and basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) is troublesome for the clinician as well as the pathologist, especially when only small biopsy specimens are available. Here we investigated whether CD34 expression might be of assistance.
METHODS: Thirty benign tumors of cutaneous appendages originating from hair follicles (BTCOHF) and 30 BCCs were retrieved from our archives and immunohistochemically stained. CD 34 expression was graded from [0] to [2+] and compared among the groups and subgroups.
RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the degree of expression between [0] and [1+] and [0] and [2+] for each group. However, [1+] and [2+] immunopositivity of BTCOHFs was significantly stronger than in BCCs (p= 0.014).
CONCLUSIONS: CD34 may contribute to differential diagnosis of skin lesions.