Seeking Standards for the Detection of Merkel Cell Polyomavirus and its Clinical Significance

March 22, 2017

Journal

Journal of Investigative Dermatology

Publication Date

March 22, 2017

Authors

Mary Eid, Jannett Nguyen, Isaac Brownell

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Abstract

Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare skin cancer associated with Merkel cell polyomavirus in most cases. Prior studies associating Merkel cell carcinoma viral status with prognosis have inconsistent findings. Moshiri et al. used multimodal virus detection to determine that the 81% of patients with virus-positive Merkel cell carcinoma tumors had earlier stage disease and better outcomes relative to virus-negative cases.

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