Cell Proliferation in Human Basal Cell Carcinoma

TLDR: Therapeutic aspects of basal cell carcinoma are discussed relating to chemotherapeutic drugs and there is more cell proliferation activity in a basalcell carcinoma than suggested by the clinically apparent slow growth of the tumor.

Abstract: Information about cell proliferation kinetics in human cancers has been limited by the inaccessibility of most tumors. Basal cell carcinomas are very common, slowly growing, locally invasive tumors of skin that have been studied by autoradiographic techniques using tritiated thymidine in vivo . The reproductive cycle of the germinative cell population was analyzed. The DNA synthesis period was found to be 20 hr; the G1 period, 188 hr; the G2 period, 7 hr; the mitotic period, 1.5 hr; and the total germinative cycle, approximately 217 hr. These results indicate that there is more cell proliferation activity in a basal cell carcinoma than suggested by the clinically apparent slow growth of the tumor. Therapeutic aspects of basal cell carcinoma are discussed relating to chemotherapeutic drugs.