News & Publications
The latest news and publications about Merkel cell carcinoma and merkelcell.org.
The immune system plays an important role in preventing the development and progression of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). As such, immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy (like Pembrolizumab or Avelumab) has become an excellent option for patients with advanced MCC. This study aimed to identify clin...
Read more →This case report showed that a personalized and tumor-informed (‘bespoke’) test for cell-free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) could predict MCC treatment response in an MCC patient treated with Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) and hypofractionated radiation (HRT).
Read more →This study presents updated findings from the JAVELIN Merkel 200 trial after more than 5 years of follow-up. It clearly shows that patients with metastatic MCC (mMCC) who previously experienced disease progression following chemotherapy had meaningful long-term overall survival, unlike for chemother...
Read more →These authors from Turkey have carefully described the outcomes of 89 MCC patients seen across 20 centers in Turkey between 1999 and 2018. They note that MCC recurred in 28% of patients who presented with local and or nodal disease, and that while rare, the incidence is increasing in Turkey.
Read more →The vast majority of Merkel cell carcinomas are diagnosed at a time when the tumor involves the deeper layer of skin, the dermis. In less than 1% of cases, an early Merkel cell carcinoma tumor is found to only involve the upper layer of the skin, the epidermis. This is called “in situ“ Merkel ce...
Read more →The Merkel virus antibody test (AMERK) is being increasingly used around the US and the world. This team at University of Tennessee in Knoxville carried out a 7 year study on 51 patients and found that it was predictive of outcomes. They found that patients who produce these antibodies had a signifi...
Read more →This review led by Dr. Tomoko Akaike, covers some of the underlying biology of MCC, with a focus on MCC clinical management now and into the future.
Read more →There has been a long-standing controversy as to what type of cell, when infected with the Merkel cell polyomavirus, ultimately turns into what we know as Merkel cell carcinoma. Some studies indicate the cell of origin might be fibroblasts from the dermis, keratinocytes from the epidermis, or even B...
Read more →This recent study introduces a new method for single-cell cytometry studies, FAUST, which allows researchers to identify and measure the physical and functional characteristics of a population of immune cells. This method was applied to a prior Merkel cell carcinoma study that focused on tumor-speci...
Read more →We have long suspected that sunlight-damaged skin cells can develop into either a squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) or much less often a Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). This process does not involve the Merkel cell polyomavirus, and is relevant for about 20% of MCC cases in the US. We have long believed th...
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