Cancer
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The basement membrane of basal cell carcinoma was characterized by indirect immunofluorescence using antibodies to laminin, type IV collagen, and bullous pemphigoid antigen, three distinct protein components of basement membrane. Aggregates of basal cell carcinoma in the dermis were surrounded by a continuous basement membrane containing laminin and type IV collagen; however, bullous pemphigoid antigen was either completely undetectable or faint and discontinuous rather than linear. ⋯ Basal cell carcinoma was the only tumor examined in which there was a specific antigenic defect in the basement membrane. This defect in bullous pemphigoid antigen may be due to abnormal synthesis by the tumor cells and could be related to the absence of differentiation of these cells.