BACKGROUND: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is a locally aggressive skin tumor in which metastatic spread occurs infrequently, with a predominance of lymphatic involvement. OBJECTIVE: We sought to evaluate podoplanin-stained lymphatic vessels in di erent histological growth patterns of basal cell carcinoma, a well as the proliferative activity of tumor tissue, to determine if podoplanin provides any additional prognostic information. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The number of lymphatic vessels and total lymphatic vessel area was morphometrically analyzed in podoplanin-stained sections using anti-D2-40. The immunohistochemical study of epidermal Ki-67 in BCC and control skin specimens was also performed. RESULTS: The number of lymphatic vessels was higher in BCC cases compared to normal skin (P=0.03). In in ltrating growth pattern, the number of lymphatic vessels, total lymphatic vessel area, and Ki-67 immunoreactivity were higher than those in nodular lesions (P=0.03, P=0.001, P=0.001, respectively). Ki-67 immunoreactivity was correlated with the number of lymph vessels (r=0.6) (P=0.004) and total lymphatic vessel area (r= 0.6) (P=0.002).CONCLUSION: Podoplanin expression in lymphatic vessels may be implicated in BCC carcinogenesis and is associated with cancer aggressiveness. Podoplanin expression can be further utilized as a marker re ecting tumoral local behavior.