Virus Causes Deadly Skin Cancer Tumors

Researchers in Pennsylvania recently discovered that a virus causes Merkel cell carcinoma.

Tumors occur when a mutation removes part of a viral protein needed for the virus to reproduce and infects other healthy cells. There is no treatment for MCV infection, but understanding how it triggers disease could lead to targeted interventions.

Merkel cell cancers occur in about 1,500 Americans annually. Two-thirds of the patients with advanced disease die within two years of diagnosis.