Cancer Health Center

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Mutations in COL7A1 result in abnormal triple helical coiling and decreased function, which causes increased skin fragility and blistering. In studies of Ras-driven carcinogenesis in HDEB-severe generalized keratinocytes, retention of the amino-terminal NC1, the first noncollagenous fragment of type VII collagen, is tumorigenic in mice.[104] This retained sequence may mediate tumor-stroma interactions that promote carcinogenesis.

Junctional epidermolysis bullosa

Junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB) is an autosomal recessive type of epidermolysis bullosa. JEB results in considerable mortality with approximately 50% of cases dying within the first year of life.[105] Mutations in any of the genes encoding the three basic subunits of laminin 332, previously known as laminin 5 (LAMA3, LAMB3, LAMC2) or COL17A1 can result in this syndrome.[106,107,108] Individuals with the Herlitz type (a severe clinical form) of JEB are at increased risk of SCC with a cumulative risk of 18% by the age of 25 years.[109]

Epidermodysplasia verruciformis

Mutations in either of two adjacent genes on chromosome 17q25 can cause epidermodysplasia verruciformis, a rare heritable disorder associated with increased susceptibility to human papillomavirus (HPV). Infection with certain HPV subtypes can lead to development of generalized nonresolving verrucous lesions, which develop into in situ and invasive SCCs in 30% to 60% of patients.[110] Malignant transformation is thought to occur in about half of these lesions. Approximately 90% of these lesions are attributed to HPV types 5 and 8,[111] although types 14, 17, 20, and 47 have occasionally been implicated. The association between HPV infection and increased risk of SCC has also been demonstrated in people without epidermodysplasia verruciformis; one case-control study found that HPV antibodies were found more frequently in the plasma of individuals with SCC (OR = 1.6; 95% CI, 1.2-2.3) than in plasma from cancer-free individuals.[112]

The genes associated with this disorder, EVER1 and EVER2, were identified in 2002.[113] The inheritance pattern of these genes appears to be autosomal recessive; however, autosomal dominant inheritance has also been reported.[114,115] Both of these gene products are transmembrane proteins localized to the endoplasmic reticulum, and they likely function in signal transduction. This effect may be through regulation of zinc balance; it has been shown that these proteins form a complex with the zinc transporter 1 (ZnT-1), which is, in turn, blocked by certain HPV proteins.[116]

A recent case-control study examined the effect of a specific EVER2 polymorphism (rs7208422) on the risk of cutaneous SCC in 239 individuals with prior SCC and 432 controls. This polymorphism is a (A > T) coding single nucleotide polymorphism in exon 8, codon 306 of the EVER2 gene. The frequency of the T allele among controls was 0.45. Homozygosity for the polymorphism caused a modest increase in SCC risk, with an adjusted OR of 1.7 (95% CI, 1.1-2.7) relative to wild-type homozygotes. In this study, those with one or more of the T alleles were also found to have increased seropositivity for any HPV and for HPV types 5 and 8, as compared with the wild type.[117]