AIMS: To report on 15 cases of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) with divergent differentiation, to characterize its clinicopathological spectrum and its relationship with Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV). METHODS AND RESULTS: Fifteen patients with a mean age of 81 years were included. Follow-up was available for 13 cases (range 12 days to 6 years; median 6 months). Recurrence, metastasis and mortality rates were 15.4%, 53.8% and 61.5%, respectively. All tumours showed the typical histological and immunohistochemical features of MCC, with at least one additional divergent component. Eight cases had a single aberrant component (squamous in six cases, follicular in one case, and porocarcinoma in one case), six cases had two aberrant components (squamous and sarcomatous in three cases, glandular and squamous in two cases, and sarcomatous and neuroblastic in one case), and one case had three aberrant components (glandular, squamous, and sarcomatous). All cases had dysplastic changes in the overlying epithelium, and four of 15 showed epidermotropism. PCR analysis for Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) gave negative results in all 12 cases tested. CONCLUSIONS: Merkel cell carcinoma with divergent differentiation is a highly aggressive tumour that might be difficult to recognize, owing to its wide histological variability. Negativity for MCV suggests that the virus is not implicated in the development of this subtype of MCC.
AIMS: To report on 15 cases of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) with divergent differentiation, to characterize its clinicopathological spectrum and its relationship with Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV). METHODS AND RESULTS: Fifteen patients with a mean age of 81 years were included. Follow-up was available for 13 cases (range 12 days to 6 years; median 6 months). Recurrence, metastasis and mortality rates were 15.4%, 53.8% and 61.5%, respectively. All tumours showed the typical histological and immunohistochemical features of MCC, with at least one additional divergent component. Eight cases had a single aberrant component (squamous in six cases, follicular in one case, and porocarcinoma in one case), six cases had two aberrant components (squamous and sarcomatous in three cases, glandular and squamous in two cases, and sarcomatous and neuroblastic in one case), and one case had three aberrant components (glandular, squamous, and sarcomatous). All cases had dysplastic changes in the overlying epithelium, and four of 15 showed epidermotropism. PCR analysis for Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) gave negative results in all 12 cases tested. CONCLUSIONS:Merkel cell carcinoma with divergent differentiation is a highly aggressive tumour that might be difficult to recognize, owing to its wide histological variability. Negativity for MCV suggests that the virus is not implicated in the development of this subtype of MCC.
Authors: Andrew G Miner; Rajiv M Patel; Deborah A Wilson; Gary W Procop; Eugen C Minca; Douglas R Fullen; Paul W Harms; Steven D Billings Journal: Mod Pathol Date: 2014-11-14 Impact factor: 7.842
Authors: Andrea Luísa Suárez; Peter Louis; Jasmine Kitts; Klaus Busam; Patricia L Myskowski; Richard J Wong; Chih-Shan Jason Chen; Philip Spencer; Mario Lacouture; Melissa P Pulitzer Journal: J Am Acad Dermatol Date: 2015-10-02 Impact factor: 11.527
Authors: Melissa P Pulitzer; A Rose Brannon; Michael F Berger; Peter Louis; Sasinya N Scott; Achim A Jungbluth; Daniel G Coit; Isaac Brownell; Klaus J Busam Journal: Mod Pathol Date: 2015-05-29 Impact factor: 7.842
Authors: Christopher K Bichakjian; Thomas Olencki; Sumaira Z Aasi; Murad Alam; James S Andersen; Rachel Blitzblau; Glen M Bowen; Carlo M Contreras; Gregory A Daniels; Roy Decker; Jeffrey M Farma; Kris Fisher; Brian Gastman; Karthik Ghosh; Roy C Grekin; Kenneth Grossman; Alan L Ho; Karl D Lewis; Manisha Loss; Daniel D Lydiatt; Jane Messina; Kishwer S Nehal; Paul Nghiem; Igor Puzanov; Chrysalyne D Schmults; Ashok R Shaha; Valencia Thomas; Yaohui G Xu; John A Zic; Karin G Hoffmann; Anita M Engh Journal: J Natl Compr Canc Netw Date: 2018-06 Impact factor: 12.693