Table 3.
Histopathological analysis of skin lesions
| Genotype | Treatment group | No. of mice examined | Incidence (%) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Papilloma | Mild hyperplasia | Severe hyperplasia | Dysplasia | SCC | |||
| B6 wt | F | 23 | 4/23 (17%) | 0 | 5/23 (22%) | 6/23 (26%) | 8/23 (35%)* |
| F + Zn | 18 | 5/18 (28%) | 1/18 (6%) | 3/18 (16%) | 5/18 (28%) | 4/18 (22%) | |
| M | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2/10 (20%) | 8/10 (80%)** | |
| M + Zn | 10 | 4/10 (40%) | 1/10 (10%) | 0 | 3/10 (30%) | 2/10 (20%)** | |
| Fhit −/− | F | 28 | 3/28 (11%) | 0 | 0 | 6/28 (21%) | 19/28 (68%)* |
| F + Zn | 17 | 3/17 (18%) | 1/17 (6%) | 2/17 (12%) | 1/17 (6%) | 10/17 (58%) | |
| M | 15 | 5/15 (34%) | 0 | 0 | 2/15 (13%) | 8/15 (53%) | |
| M + Zn | 17 | 3/17 (18%) | 0 | 4/17 (24%) | 5/17 (29%) | 5/17 (29%) | |
SCC incidence includes both carcinoma in situ and squamous cell carcinoma – *unsupplemented Fhit −/− female versus unsupplemented wt female (68% vs. 35%), P = 0.026; **Zn supplementation led to a reduced carcinoma incidence in wt males (20% vs. 80%), P = 0.023. Additionally, the total M+F wt SCC burden was significantly reduced in the mice with Zn supplementation (6/28 SCCs or 18% in Zn‐supplemented wt mice vs. 16/33 SCCs or 48% in unsupplemented wt mice, P = 0.035); in Fhit−/− mice, with more total M + F tumors in more mice, there was a decrease in SCCs with Zn supplementation, trending toward significance (15/34 SCCs or 44% with Zn supplementation vs. 27/43 or 63% SCCs without Zn supplementation, P = 0.11). Fisher's exact test, two‐tailed. F, female; M, male; SCC, squamous cell carcinoma.