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Updated: Feb 25, 2026
Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Infection and Detection
Published on: February 7, 2019
Expression of Merkelcell polyomavirus (MCPyV) large T-antigen in Merkel cell carcinoma lymph node metastases predicts
Georg Haymerle1, Stefan Janik1, Alexandra Fochtmann2
1Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Background:
The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of MCPyV in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) primaries versus lymph node metastasis and to evaluate possible prognostic factors.
Methods:
Samples of MCC primaries and lymph node metastases were stained immunohistochemically for the MCPyV large T-antigen and expression was compared to patients´ clinical outcome.
Results:
41 MCC patients were included. 33 (61%) out of 54 specimens were MCPyV-positive in the immunohistochemistry. 15 (47%) out of 32 primary tumors were positive compared to 18 (82%) out of 22 lymph node metastases. Eleven patients with positive polyomavirus expression died from the carcinoma compared to 4 patients without virus expression. Cox regression analysis showed worse disease-free survival in patients with MCPyV compared to virus-negative lymph nodes (p = 0.002).
Conclusions:
To our knowledge this is the first study to describe a negative prognostic effect of the MCPyV expression in lymph node metastasis in MCC patients.
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