Published in

MDPI, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(23), p. 15366, 2022

DOI: 10.3390/ijms232315366

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TRK Protein Expression in Merkel Cell Carcinoma Is Not Caused by NTRK Fusions

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and aggressive cutaneous malignant tumor with neuroendocrine differentiation, with a rapidly growing incidence rate, high risk of recurrence, and aggressive behavior. The available therapeutic options for advanced disease are limited and there is a pressing need for new treatments. Tumors harboring fusions involving one of the neurotrophin receptor tyrosine kinase (NTRK) genes are now actionable with targeted inhibitors. NTRK-fused genes have been identified in neuroendocrine tumors of other sites; thus, a series of 76 MCCs were firstly analyzed with pan-TRK immunohistochemistry and the positive ones with real-time RT-PCR, RNA-based NGS, and FISH to detect the eventual underlying gene fusion. Despite 34 MCCs showing pan-TRK expression, NTRK fusions were not found in any cases. As in other tumors with neural differentiation, TRK expression seems to be physiological and not caused by gene fusions.