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Review
. 2014 Jan 22;3(1):46-53.
doi: 10.1007/s13671-014-0068-z. eCollection 2014.

Merkel Cell Carcinoma: Epidemiology, Target, and Therapy

Mathew P Hughes  1 , Matthew E Hardee  2 , Lynn A Cornelius  3 , Laura F Hutchins  4 , Jurgen C Becker  5 , Ling Gao  1
Affiliations
Review

Merkel Cell Carcinoma: Epidemiology, Target, and Therapy

Mathew P Hughes et al. Curr Dermatol Rep. .

Abstract

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an aggressive neuroendocrine tumor of the skin with a rising incidence. MCC has metastatic potential regardless the size of the primary tumor and a 5-year disease associated mortality rate is 46 %. Surgery and radiation are the mainstays of management for primary MCC. There is no evidence-based effective chemotherapy for recurrent or metastatic diseases to date. In-depth mechanistic studies in MCC have uncovered important cellular events and the association with a polyomavirus, which has provided direct evidence for molecular targeted and immunotherapy. Further perspective studies and clinical trials are warranted to provide reliable evidence of possible pitfalls and effectiveness of molecular targeted immunotherapy alone or in combination with chemotherapy in MCC.

Keywords: Chemotherapy; Immune therapy; Immunosuppression; Merkel cell carcinoma; Merkel cell polyomavirus; Radiation therapy; Sentinel lymph node biopsy; Signaling pathway.

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Conflict of interest statement

MP Hughes, ME Hardee, LA Cornelius, LF Hutchins, JC Becker, and L Gao declare no conflicts of interest.

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