Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, lymphoma, merkel cell carcinoma

Increased incidence of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and lymphomas in patients with Merkel cell carcinoma - a population based study of 335 cases with neuroendocrine skin tumour.

Mar 2012

Tadmor T, Liphshitz I, Aviv A, Landgren O, Barchana M, Polliack A.

Source

Haematology, Oncology Unit, Bnai-Zion Medical Centre, Haifa, Israel.

Abstract

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare aggressive skin tumour that appears to be associated with a large number of other tumours. We collected all reported cases in Israel and estimated its association with other tumours, including haematological malignancies. The population based Israel Cancer Registry identified 335 patients with MCC diagnosed between1989 and 2010. Ninety-seven percent were in the Jewish population; median age at diagnosis for Jewish patients was 73·4 and 55·6 years for the Arab population. Other associated malignancies were encountered in 92 patients (27·4%) with MCC (90 Jews, two Arabs). Of the Jewish cases, 66 presented with an associated malignancy before, and 24 after, the diagnosis of MCC. Solid tumours were not significantly increased among patients with MCC. Thirty-one of these associated cancers (34·4%) were haemato-oncological malignancies, 24 were detected before and seven after the diagnosis of MCC. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) for haematological malignancy was 3·67 for males and 3·62 for females, and the most frequent haemato-oncological neoplasias recorded were chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (45%) and lymphomas (29%). Although MCC is rare, clinicians should be aware of the possible association with B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders when evaluating patients with neuroendocrine skin tumours.

Wiley OnLine

Human Merkel cell polyomavirus infection I. MCV T antigen expression in Merkel cell carcinoma, lymphoid tissues and lymphoid tumors.

Human Merkel cell polyomavirus infection I. MCV T antigen expression in Merkel cell carcinoma, lymphoid tissues and lymphoid tumors.
Int J Cancer. 2009 Apr

Shuda M, Arora R, Kwun HJ, Feng H, Sarid R, Fernández-Figueras MT, Tolstov Y, Gjoerup O, Mansukhani MM, Swerdlow SH, Chaudhary PM, Kirkwood JM, Nalesnik MA, Kant JA, Weiss LM, Moore PS, Chang Y.
Molecular Virology Program, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, PA.

Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) is a recently discovered human virus closely related to African green monkey lymphotropic polyomavirus. MCV DNA is integrated in approximately 80% of Merkel cell carcinomas (MCC), a neuroendocrine skin cancer linked to lymphoid malignancies such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). To assess MCV infection and its association with human diseases, we developed a monoclonal antibody that specifically recognizes endogenous and transfected MCV large T (LT) antigen. We show expression of MCV LT protein localized to nuclei of tumor cells from MCC having PCR quantified MCV genome at an average of 5.2 (range 0.8-14.3) T antigen DNA copies per cell. Expression of this putative viral oncoprotein in tumor cells provides the mechanistic underpinning supporting the notion that MCV causes a subset of MCC. In contrast, although 2.2% of 325 hematolymphoid malignancies surveyed also showed evidence for MCV infection by DNA PCR, none were positive at high viral copy numbers, and none of 173 lymphoid malignancies examined on tissue microarrays expressed MCV LT protein in tumor cells. As with some of the other human polyomaviruses, lymphocytes may serve as a tissue reservoir for MCV infection, but hematolymphoid malignancies associated with MCC are unlikely to be caused by MCV.

PubMed