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participating institutions:
Johns Hopkins University AIDS Service, New York State DOH AIDS Institute, The CORE Center, Cook County Hospital



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Merkel Cell Carcinoma and HIV Infection [Engels EA et al. Lancet 2002;359:497] The authors studied the frequency of Merkel cell carcinoma by linking AIDS and cancer registries in 11 locations of the U.S., which included 309,000 patients with AIDS. There were six cases of Merkel cell carcinoma with a relative risk of 13.4 compared to the general population.
Comment: Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare skin cancer, which is sometimes found after organ transplantation or other diseases that compromise immune responses. In this series, all cases occurred in men 40-60 years of age. This tends to be an aggressive tumor and, although 13 times more common in those with AIDS, it is still very rare.
posted 2/20/2002





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