title: Prevalence of Merkel cell polyomavirus among Swiss Merkel cell carcinoma patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a malignant neuroendocrine neoplasm which shares structural and immunohistochemical features with neuroectodermally derived cells. One hypothesis claims that it arises from Merkel cells, highly innervated neuroendocrine cells involved in mechanoreception in the skin. The incidence rate of this cancer increases with age and sun exposure as well as after immunosuppression. Recently, the clonal integration of a newly identified polyomavirus called Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) was reported in up to 80% of MCC tissue. Here we report the incidence rate of MCPyV in MCC patients in Switzerland.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed polymerase chain reaction in a collection of 32 samples obtained from pathology institutes around Switzerland. We used three different published primer sets. As control groups we used 7 squamous cell carcinoma samples and 11 normal skin samples.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We detected viral DNA in 20 out of 30 cases of MCC and in 0 out of 19 control samples. The presence of viral DNA in 66.6% of our MCC tissue specimens confirms the high prevalence of MCPyV in MCC patients described in American, German, French and Hungarian patient collections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mangana
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dziunycz
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kerl
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dummer
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cozzio
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015266:Carcinoma, Merkel Cell / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D018862:Merkel Cells / Q000821:virology*; D011120:Polyomavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D027601:Polyomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology