Epidemiology
This type of cancer occurs most often in Caucasians between 60 and 80 years of age, and its rate of incidence is about twice as high in males as in females. There are roughly 1,500 new cases of MCC diagnosed each year in the United States, as compared to around 60,000 new cases of melanoma and over 1 million new cases of nonmelanoma skin cancer. MCC is sometimes mistaken for other histological types of cancer, including basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, lymphoma, and small cell carcinoma, or as a benign cyst. Researchers believe that exposure to sunlight or ultraviolet light (such as in a tanning bed) may increase the risk of developing this disease. Similarly to melanoma, the incidence of MCC in the US is increasing rapidly.
Immune suppression can profoundly increase the odds of developing Merkel cell carcinoma. According to a recent study in The Lancet, Merkel cell carcinoma occurs 13.4 times more often in people with advanced HIV as compared to the general population. Solid organ transplant recipients have similarly increased risk.
Read more about this topic: Merkel Cell Carcinoma