An example of what a Merkel Cell Carcinoma can look like. Photo: Dr Jonathan ChanA population-based study into Merkel Cell Carcinoma in Western Australia has revealed that the survival rate was worse for patients with MCC than with melanoma.
Scientists from the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research used data from the WA Cancer Registry to determine the demographics and trends of incidence and survival among MCC cases.
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"The incidence of Merkel Cell Carcinoma in Western Australia is the highest reported in world literature," said Professor Lin Fritschi, head of the institute's Epidemiology Group."There is evidence that MCC, like other skin cancers, may be caused by sun exposure.
"It is most commonly found on sun-exposed areas like the face, and the scalp for men. And the risk of developing MCC increases with age."
MCC is an uncommon but aggressive form of skin cancer, which presents as a pink lump on the skin.
Only one person in 100,000 is diagnosed as having MCC each year, compared to 30 new cases of melanoma per 100,000 people discovered annually, Professor Fritschi said.
Of those, there are a reported 120 melanoma deaths each year compared to less than seven deaths annually for MCC. But the rate of recurrence is a lot higher, she said.
"Even if patients are treated by removing the tumour, MCCs are prone to recurrence," Professor Fritschi said.
"Five-year survival from melanoma is now 90 per cent, whereas five-year survival for MCC cases in the study was only 64 per cent.
"It seems to be a difficult skin cancer to treat and perhaps patients aren't diagnosed as quickly as they are with melanoma, which is better known and has a more obvious appearance."
She said that the discovery of a virus which was connected to causing MCC, named the Merkel Cell Polyomavirus, was being more extensively investigated. Yet in Australia the biggest singular cause was sun exposure.
"We're surprised no one has looked at it before in Australia because we have the highest rates of skin cancer in the world," Professor Fritschi said.
Professor Fritschi's joint-paper, Merkel Cell Carcinoma in Western Australia: A population based study of incidence and survival, has been accepted for publication in the British Journal of Dermatology.
She said she plans to start examining MCC in patients with a suppressed immune system, such as Leukaemia sufferers, who are more at risk from the sun.
Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/more-lethal-skin-cancer-detected-in-wa-20110707-1h461.html#ixzz1RTzeCZKu
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