High titers of MCV antibodies in a much higher proportion of patients with MCC than in controls confirmed the association between MCV infection and MCC. The findings also indicated that a better progression-free survival occurred in patients with high MCV antibody titers and suggested that there are at least two distinct etiologic causes of MCC.

We investigated whether Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) patients in France carry Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) and then identified strain variations. All frozen MCC specimens and 45% of formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded specimens, but none of the non-MCC neuroendocrine carcinomas specimens, had MCPyV. Strains from France and the United States were similar.

In France, patients of all ages who consult for dermatology complaints in hospital and in private practice have the most confidence in a physician who wears a professional white coat.

The association between vitamin D deficiency and MCC characteristics and outcome, together with detection of the VDR in MCC cells, suggest that vitamin D could influence the biology of MCC.

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