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Expression of cyclin A in Merkel cell carcinoma
Author(s) -
KOLJONEN VIRVE,
TUKIAINEN ERKKI,
HAGLUND CAJ,
BÖHLING TOM
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
apmis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0903-4641
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0463.2004.apm1120107.x
Subject(s) - merkel cell carcinoma , carcinoma , merkel cell , biology , cancer research , medicine , oncology , pathology
Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and aggressive primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin. Large tumours, in particular, show rapid progression and metastatic dissemination, while smaller tumours show less aggressive behaviour. Cyclin A is considered to play a central role in cell cycle control. Its overexpression has been found to correlate with prognosis in many types of carcinomas and sarcomas. Twenty‐six MCC patients with complete clinical data were selected. Formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded primary tumour samples were immunohistochemically stained for cyclin A. Correlation between expression of cyclin A and primary tumour size, invasion of subcutaneous tissue, local recurrence, metastasis and survival was statistically analysed. Twenty‐five samples expressed cyclin A, and the mean value of positive cells was 25%. Our findings demonstrate that even small and superficial MCC show overexpression of cyclin A. There was no statistical correlation between cyclin A expression and the above‐mentioned variables. Cyclin A does not seem to be useful as a prognostic tool. Consequently, size of the primary tumour (≥2 cm) remains the primary prognostic tool. As a result every tumour, even those small in size, should be considered aggressive and treated radically and rapidly.