Merkel cell polyomavirus in Merkel cell carcinoma of Italian patients

DNA and RNA were extracted from nine MCCs to detect the presence of MCPyV. Viral large T gene (LT1 and LT3), and viral capsid gene (VP1) were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based methods, and the amplified PCR products were subjected to direct sequencing. The presence of viral T antigen and/or viral capsid DNA sequences was demonstrated in eight of the nine MCC lesions, whereas RNA transcripts were detected in three MCCs.These findings indicate a potential role of MCPyV in the pathogenesis of at least a subset of MCCs.Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare but aggressive human skin cancer that often appears in the older white population. Sun exposure and immunosuppression are likely to play a significant pathogenetic role [1,2]. Management of MCC is controversial, most of patients are treated by surgical excision with sentinel lymph node biopsy, followed by irradiation [3]. Conventional adjuvant chemotherapy lacks evidence of survival benefit and may be associated with poorer outcomes [4]. Using digital transcriptome subtraction Feng et al. [5] reported PCR detection of Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) in most MCC specimens, and clonal integration of the viral genome was identified, suggesting a role for the virus in the pathogenesis of this skin cancer. The MCPyV is a small polyomavirus with a circular DNA encoding a T antigen oncoprotein locus [5]. The detection frequency of MCPyV DNA in MCC seems not to correlate with age, sex, histological subtype of carcinoma, or the time period during which the cancer was detected. In addition it is unclear whether integration of MCPyV DNA into the host genome is associated with some subtype of MCC. Nevertheless this infection could be considered a determinant clinical factor of this rare tumour [6].The presence of MCPyV in MCC was already reported by several research groups [7-9] but data from Italian patients are lacking. The goal of this study was the detection of the presence and expression of MCPyV in a group