Merkel Cell Polyomavirus and Merkel Cell Carcinoma, France

To the Editor: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a primary cutaneous neuroendocrine tumor. This aggressive skin cancer is uncommon but increasing in frequency. During 1986–2001, incidence rate tripled; average annual increase was 8% (1). MCC shares epidemiologic features with Kaposi sarcoma, a malignant tumor associated with human herpesvirus 8 infection (2). In particular, MCC affects predominantly immunocompromised patients such as organ transplant recipients (3,4), patients with B-cell lymphoid tumors (5), and patients with AIDS (6). This similarity between MCC and Kaposi sarcoma may support the hypothesis of an infectious origin of MCC.