Compared to adjacent histologically normal epithelium, 84 (91%) VSCC cases exhibited over-expression of at least one Hh pathway component (SHH or GLI1 or PTCH1): SHH ligand was over-expressed in the primary tumour in 73 (80%) cases; 47 (52%) cases showed a cytosolic over-expression of GLI1, and PTCH1 was over-expressed in 53 (58%) cases. This evidence concerns the gene PTCH1 and neoplasm.