Merkel cell polyomavirus associated with Merkel cell carcinoma
The Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) is the only human polyomavirus known to be associated with a rare skin cancer, known as Merkel cell carcinoma, according to a new study published online 23 September in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The majority of patients with Merkel cell carcinoma carry MCPyV, but little is known about the polyomavirus' prevalence in the general population and the association between circulating antibodies against MCPyV and the rare skin cancer.
Denise A. Galloway and Paul Nghiem of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle, and colleagues investigated the levels of antibodies against all five human polyomaviruses in plasma from 41 patients with Merkel cell carcinoma and 76 matched control subjects. Seroprevalence of polyomavirus-specific antibodies for McPyV and the other four polyomaviruses - BK, JC, WU, and KI - was also determined in another 451 control subjects, who represented the general population. MCPyV DNA was determined in tumour tissue specimens.
The authors found that 36 (88%) of 41 patients with Merkel cell carcinoma carried antibodies against MCPyV compared with 40 (53%) of the 76 control subjects. MCPyV DNA was detectable in 24 (77%) of the 31 Merkel cell carcinoma tumours available, with 22 (92%) of these 24 patients also carrying antibodies against MCPyV. Among the 451 control subjects, prevalence of antibodies against the five human polyomaviruses was 92% for BK virus, 45% for JC virus, 98% for WU polyomavirus, 90% for KI polyomavirus, and 59% for MCPyV.
Although infection with MCPyV is common in the general population, MCPyV, but not the other four human polyomaviruses, appears to be associated with Merkel cell carcinoma.
'It should be remembered that Merkel cell cancer is rare...,' the authors write. 'Thus, although antibody reactivity against MCPyV was associated with an increased risk of developing cell cancer, the absolute risk of cancer development in antibody - positive individuals is exceeding low.'
How diarrhoeal bacteria cause some colon cancers
— 23 August 2009Johns Hopkins scientists say they have figured out how bacteria that cause diarrhoea may also be the culprit in some colon cancers. The investigators say that strains of the common... — full story
Inherited risk factors increase odds of developing childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
— 16 August 2009Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have identified inherited variations in two genes that account for 37 percent of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), including... — full story
Scientists create energy-burning brown fat in mice
— 29 July 2009Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have shown that they can engineer mouse and human cells to produce brown fat, a natural energy-burning type of fat that counteracts obesity.... — full story
Genome of parasitic flatworm that causes schistosomiasis decoded
— 15 July 2009An international team of scientists has sequenced the genome of Schistosoma mansoni, a parasitic worm, commonly known as a blood fluke, that infects 210 million in 76 countries through... — full story