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Merkel cell carcinoma subgroups by Merkel cell polyomavirus DNA relative abundance and oncogene expression
Author(s) -
Bhatia Kishor,
Goedert James J.,
Modali Rama,
Preiss Liliana,
Ayers Leona W.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.24676
Subject(s) - merkel cell polyomavirus , merkel cell carcinoma , biology , merkel cell , immunohistochemistry , pathology , carcinoma , microbiology and biotechnology , cancer research , immunology , medicine , genetics
Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) was recently discovered in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a clinically and pathologically heterogeneous malignancy of dermal neuroendocrine cells. To investigate this heterogeneity, we developed a tissue microarray (TMA) to characterize immunohistochemical staining of candidate tumor cell proteins and a quantitative PCR assay to detect MCPyV and measure viral loads. MCPyV was detected in 19 of 23 (74%) primary MCC tumors, but 8 of these had less than 1 viral copy per 300 cells. Viral abundance of 0.06–1.2 viral copies/cell was directly related to presence of retinoblastoma gene product (pRb) and terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase (TdT) by immunohistochemical staining ( p ≤ 0.003). Higher viral abundance tumors tended to be associated with less p53 expression, younger age at diagnosis and longer survival ( p ≤ 0.08). These data suggest that MCC may arise through different oncogenic pathways, including ones independent of pRb and MCPyV.