Viral Oncoprotein Antibodies as a Marker for Recurrence of Merkel Cell Carcinoma: A Prospective Validation Study
December 7, 2016
Full Publication
Background: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an aggressive skin cancer with a recurrence rate of >40%. Of the 2000 MCC cases per year in the United States, most are caused by the Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV). Antibodies to MCPyV oncoprotein (T-antigens) have been correlated with MCC tumor burden. The present study assesses the clinical utility of MCPyV-oncoprotein antibody titers for MCC prognostication and surveillance.
Methods: MCPyV-oncoprotein antibody detection was optimized in a clinical laboratory. A cohort of 219 patients with newly diagnosed MCC were followed prospectively (median follow-up, 1.9 years). Among the seropositive patients, antibody titer and disease status were serially tracked.
Results: Antibodies to MCPyV oncoproteins were rare among healthy individuals (1%) but were present in most patients with MCC (114 of 219 patients [52%]; P<.01). Seropositivity at diagnosis
independently predicted decreased recurrence risk (hazard ratio, 0.58; P5.04) in multivariate analyses adjusted for age, sex, stage, and immunosuppression. After initial treatment, seropositive patients whose disease did not recur had rapidly falling titers that became negative by a median of 8.4 months. Among seropositive patients who underwent serial evaluation (71 patients; 282 time
points), an increasing oncoprotein titer had a positive predictive value of 66% for clinically evident recurrence, whereas a decreasing titer had a negative predictive value of 97%.
Conclusions: Determination of oncoprotein antibody titer assists in the clinical management
of patients with newly diagnosed MCC by stratifying them into a higher risk seronegative cohort, in which radiologic imaging may play a more prominent role, and into a lower risk seropositive cohort, in which disease status can be tracked in part by oncoprotein antibody titer. Cancer 2016;000:000–000. VC 2016 American Cancer Society.
Keywords: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV), oncoprotein, serology, skin cancer, T antigen.