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Conflict of interest: none declared.

Sir, The p63 gene, located on chromosome 3q27–29, is a member of the p53 gene family.1 The p63 gene is critical for maintaining the necessary progenitor cell populations to sustain epithelial development and morphogenesis in human and murine tissues.2–5 In the absence of p63, epithelia remain single layered. p63 thus has a dual role and is essential for development as well as for maintenance of the epidermis.6 During embryogenesis, p63 may be the molecular switch required for initiation of epithelial stratification.7 We previously demonstrated the expression of p63 protein in normal human epidermis and epidermal appendages,8 and we clarified that p63‐negative cells do not originate from epidermal germinative cells and that p63 protein disappears in accordance with cell differentiation. p63 has been reported to be a reliable keratinocyte stem cell marker9 and may be used to identify these cells in the skin. We therefore carried out an immunohistochemical study on p63 expression in various human cutaneous tumours to investigate whether or not p63 can serve as a valuable immunohistochemical marker for skin tumours.

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