Does the Autophagy Related Gene 7 (ATG7) Have a Role in Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer?

Purpose To evaluate the role of autophagy related gene 7 (ATG7) in non-melanoma skin cancer. Subjects and Methods This retrospective and prospective case-control study was performed on 104 patients with non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in addition to 20 apparently healthy subjects matched for age and sex as a control group. Multiple skin biopsies were taken for immunohistochemical evaluation of ATG7 expression. Results Both epithelial and stromal ATG7 were expressed in all participants while all patients showed nucleocytoplasmic localization and controls showed both cytoplasmic and nucleocytoplasmic expression. In addition, significantly higher H-scores of ATG7 in both epithelium and stroma were detected in patients compared to controls (P