ArticleJournal for immunotherapy of cancer2022
Clinical and molecular characteristics associated with response to therapeutic PD-1/PD-L1 inhibition in advanced Merkel cell carcinoma.
Article in Journal for immunotherapy of cancer, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio and platelet-lymphocyte ratio as potential predictive markers of treatment response in cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2023Pooled it
- PD-L1 in Merkel Cell Carcinoma: From Tumor Microenvironment to Pathological Interpretation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Primary Merkel cell carcinoma of the submandibular region without cutaneous lesion: a case report.Archives of craniofacial surgery · 2026Article
- The Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor-Macrophage Axis in Merkel Cell Carcinoma: Evidence, Limitations, and Therapeutic Hypotheses.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Molecular Characterization of Polyomavirus-Positive and Negative Merkel Cell Carcinoma.Cancers · 2025Article
- Tertiary lymphoid structures in Merkel cell carcinoma facilitate naïve and central memory T-cell infiltration linked to immunotherapy response.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2025Article
- Review
- Inhibitory Immune Checkpoints beyond Programmed Cell Death Ligand 1 in Merkel Cell Carcinoma: Abundant Expression of TIGIT Independent of the Presence of Merkel Cell Polyoma Virus.Acta dermato-venereologica · 2025Article
- Spatially organized inflammatory myeloid-CD8bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Understanding Merkel Cell Carcinoma: Pathogenic Signaling, Extracellular Matrix Dynamics, and Novel Treatment Approaches.Cancers · 2025Review
- Case Report: Complete response to pembrolizumab monotherapy in a geriatric patient with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma and TNBC.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
- Targeting archetypes of viral-driven cancers with immunotherapy: a perspective on immunogenicity within the tumor microenvironment.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Development of a Multiplex Immunofluorescence Assay for Tumor Microenvironment Studies of Human and Murine Merkel Cell Carcinoma.Laboratory investigation; a journal of technical methods and pathology · 2024Article
- Merkel Cell Carcinoma: Integrating Epidemiology, Immunology, and Therapeutic Updates.American journal of clinical dermatology · 2024Review
- Merkel cell carcinoma: updates in tumor biology, emerging therapies, and preclinical models.Frontiers in oncology · 2024Review
- Investigating chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy and the potential for cancer immunotherapy (Review).Molecular and clinical oncology · 2023Review
- Review
- C-Reactive Protein: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, False Test Results and a Novel Diagnostic Algorithm for Clinicians.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- ESMO/ASCO Recommendations for a Global Curriculum in Medical Oncology Edition 2023.JCO global oncology · 2023Article
- Single-cell dissection of Merkel cell carcinoma heterogeneity unveils transcriptomic plasticity and therapeutic vulnerabilities.Cell reports. Medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
25 authors at 13 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBased on its viral-associated or UV-associated carcinogenesis, Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a highly immunogenic skin cancer. Thus, clinically evident MCC occurs either in immuno-compromised patients or based on tumor-intrinsic immune escape mechanisms. This notion may explain that although advanced MCC can be effectively restrained by treatment with PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), a considerable percentage of patients does not benefit from ICI therapy. Biomarkers predicting ICI treatment response are currently not available.
methodsThe present multicenter retrospective study investigated clinical and molecular characteristics in 114 patients with unresectable MCC at baseline before treatment with ICI for their association with therapy response (best overall response, BOR). In a subset of 21 patients, pretreatment tumor tissue was analyzed for activation, differentiation and spatial distribution of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL).
resultsOf the 114 patients, n=74 (65%) achieved disease control (BOR=complete response/partial response/stable disease) on ICI. A Bayesian cumulative ordinal regression model revealed absence of immunosuppression and a limited number of tumor-involved organ systems was highly associated with a favorable therapy response. Unimpaired overall performance status, high age, normal serum lactate dehydrogenase and normal serum C reactive protein were moderately associated with disease control. While neither tumor Merkel cell polyomavirus nor tumor PD-L1 status showed a correlation with therapy response, treatment with anti-PD-1 antibodies was associated with a higher probability of disease control than treatment with anti-PD-L1 antibodies. Multiplexed immunohistochemistry demonstrated the predominance of CD8
conclusionsOur findings indicate the absence of immunosuppression, a limited number of tumor-affected organs, and a predominance of CD8
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