Microscopic study: At the end of the experiment, animals were sacrificed by CO2 overdose. A necropsy was performed on the dorsal skin and viscera. The samples collected were embedded in paraffin and stained with haematoxylin and eosin for microscopic analysis. The presence of normal skin, actinic keratoses, dysplasia, carcinoma in situ and invasive carcinoma was examined under light microscopy (Leica DM 6000B). Immunohistochemical study of tumors was performed using the streptavidin-biotin method with following antibodies: proliferating cellular nuclear antigen (PCNA); p53; anti-metaloproteinase-9 (MMP-9); and anti-metallopeptidase inhibitor 1 (TIMP-1) (Dako, S.A, Barcelona, Spain). The sections were incubated overnight at 4°C with antibodies to PCNA (PC-10; Dako Corporation, Glostrup, Denmark); MMP; and TIMP-1 at a 1:200 dilution. Negative controls were treated with all reagents except the primary antibody. PCNA expression was quantified in high resolution images obtained from digitalized specimens by the microscopy scanning Leica SCN400F, using an image analysis module of Slidepath Digital Image Hub. Three 100 μm2 areas were traced on each image from the tumor invasion front (in the case of tumors) or the epidermis basal layer when no carcinoma was present. The software produced a count of the number of positive nuclei and the total number of cells, using the Nuclear Algorythm 3.0, which detects PCNA marking by means of a previously defined color pattern. Immunohistochemical quantification (PCNA and P53) was expressed as the mean percentage of each antiboy immunohistochemical positive cells, respect to total cells number(Ibrahim and Elwan, 2017). In semi-quantitative immunohistochemical analysis (TIMP, and MMP-9), scores were calculated by multiplying by the percentage of stained stroma surface (grade 0: no stained stroma, grade 1: less than 10% stained stroma, grade 2: 10-50% stained stroma, and grade 3: 51-100% stained stroma) by the graded intensity of stained stroma (grade 0-3)(Preidl et al., 2019). All microscopic analyses were carried out by two pathologists blinded to the results of the study.