Merkel Cell Carcinoma in the Age of Immunotherapy: Facts and Hopes.

ABSTRACT: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare (∼2,000 U.S. cases/year) but aggressive neuroendocrine tumor of the skin. For advanced MCC, cytotoxic chemotherapy only infrequently (<10% of cases) offers durable clinical responses (>1 year), suggesting a great need for improved therapeutic options. In 2008, the Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) was discovered and is clonally integrated in approximately 80% of MCC tumors. The remaining 20% of MCC tumors have large numbers of UV-associated mutations. Importantly, both the UV-induced neoantigens in virus-negative tumors and the MCPyV T antigen oncogenes that are required for virus-positive tumor growth are immunogenic. Indeed, antigen-specific T cells detected in patients are frequently dysfunctional/"exhausted," and the inhibitory ligand, PD-L1, is oft

SUBMITTER: Colunga A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5932211 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature