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Updated: Oct 30, 2025
Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Infection and Detection
Published on: February 7, 2019
Concurrent Adjacent Merkel Cell Carcinoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia without Simultaneous Merkel Cell
Rayan Saade1, Saleh Najjar1, Mustafa Erdem Arslan1
1Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY 12208, USA.
Background:
The association between Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic leukemia (CLL/SLL) is well established in the literature. A majority of MCCs are known to be associated with Merkel cell carcinoma polyomavirus (MCPyV), which is postulated to be a possible causative agent linking these two entities. We aim to identify the presence of MCPyV in patients with concurrent adjacent MCC and CLL/SLL.
Methods:
Archived pathology materials of three cutaneous or surgical excisions with concurrent MCC and CLL/SLL were reviewed. Additional 12-µm sections from paraffin-embedded tissue of these resections were matched with original hematoxylin and eosin-stained slides and used to extract foci from each tumor separately. DNA was extracted from these tissues, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), utilizing a primer set within a highly conserved "small T" viral DNA region, was done to detect MCPyV.
Results:
Out of 140 cases of cutaneous or surgical excisions with MCC identified in our electronic medical records (EMR), three had coexisting neighboring CLL/SLL in the same resection specimen. In one case out of three, MCPyV was detected in MCC but not in CLL/SLL. The remaining two cases showed no detection of MCPyV in either MCC or CLL/SLL.
Conclusion:
MCPyV was not concurrently associated with adjacent MCC and CLL/SLL, indicating that it is not driving simultaneous tumorigenesis, at least in a subset of these cases.
