Absence of merkel cell polyoma virus in cutaneous melanoma.

Recently, merkel cell polyoma virus (MCPyV) has been described in 80% of merkel cell carcinomas (MCC). Similar to MCC, melanoma incidence is increased in immuno-suppressed patients. We hypothesized that MCPyV may play a role in melanoma development as well. We selected 95 archival, paraffin-embedded primary melanomas. DNA was obtained from micro-dissected tissue and amplified with PCR primer sets specific for the MCPyV T-antigen locus (LT1 and LT3) and for the VP1 gene. None of the 95 melanoma samples did show LT1, LT3, or VP1 fragment amplification. In conclusion, there is no evidence that MCPyV infection plays a role in cutaneous melanoma development.