Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31676786›Full record

ReviewModern pathology : an official journal of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Inc2020

Danger is only skin deep: aggressive epidermal carcinomas. An overview of the diagnosis, demographics, molecular-genetics, staging, prognostic biomarkers, and therapeutic advances in Merkel cell carcinoma.

Michael T Tetzlaff, Paul W Harms

Abstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Modern pathology : an official journal of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Inc, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Guideline
  2. Diagnostic Utility and Clinicopathologic Associations of Histone H3 Lysine 27 Trimethylation (H3K27me3) Immunohistochemistry for Merkel Cell Carcinoma.Modern pathology : an official journal of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Inc · 2026
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. TRK Protein Expression in Merkel Cell Carcinoma Is Not Caused byInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2022
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Genomic evidence suggests that cutaneous neuroendocrine carcinomas can arise from squamous dysplastic precursors.Modern pathology : an official journal of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Inc · 2022
    Article
  15. Evidence of an epithelial origin of Merkel cell carcinoma.Modern pathology : an official journal of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Inc · 2022
    Article
  16. Article
  17. Virus-positive Merkel Cell Carcinoma Is an Independent Prognostic Group with Distinct Predictive Biomarkers.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2021
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Michael T TetzlaffDepartment of Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcomb Blvd, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. mtetzlaff@mdanderson.org.
Paul W HarmsDepartment of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0802-2883

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a high grade primary cutaneous neuroendocrine carcinoma and is among the most aggressive cutaneous malignancies. The rising incidence of MCC, together with its often rapidly aggressive course, underscore a critical need to recognize the histopathologic and the immunohistochemical features that inform its accurate diagnosis. In the current review, we summarize the current state of knowledge regarding the accurate diagnosis of MCC and the exclusion of other entities in the differential diagnosis. We provide a comprehensive review of genomic studies that identified the molecular-genetic drivers of MCC as well as a summary of studies identifying prognostic biomarkers that can facilitate risk stratification. Importantly, Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) appears to be causative in most cases of MCC and represents both a diagnostic and prognostic marker. Finally, as staging of MCC has undergone critical refinements with the introduction of the 8th Edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system, we provide an update on MCC staging. In particular, the prognostic significance of the sentinel lymph node (SLN) in MCC necessitates a systematic approach to its evaluation and diagnosis to ensure accurate and consistent risk stratification for patients, and we therefore provide a comprehensive overview of SLN evaluation in MCC. Finally, the intimate relationship between MCC and the integrity of the host immune system has led to paradigm-shifting therapeutic advances with the successful application of immune checkpoint blockade to treat patients with advanced disease, and we therefore summarize those studies and the correlative studies in which predictive biomarkers have been identified.

Indexed as

Carcinoma, Merkel CellSkin NeoplasmsBiomarkers, TumorDiagnosis, DifferentialEpidermisGenetic Predisposition to DiseaseHumansLymphatic MetastasisNeoplasm StagingPhenotypePredictive Value of TestsRisk AssessmentRisk FactorsTreatment OutcomeBiomarkers, Tumor

Identifiers

PMID31676786

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.