A comprehensive gene-expression analysis published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology identifies Polycomb complex components and histone deacetylases as transcript-level prognostic markers in Merkel cell carcinoma. The paper appeared online on 12 October 2026.

The study, led by John Charles Rotondo of the University of Ferrara with first author Chiara Mazziotta, analyzed chromatin remodeling gene expression across Merkel cell carcinoma tissue. The multi-center author team spans Italian institutions — including the Universities of Ferrara, Padua, Parma and Bologna — together with French collaborators Mahtab Samimi of Tours and the team of Antoine Touzé at the IRCM in Montpellier.

Why chromatin remodeling matters in MCC

Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare and aggressive skin cancer, and clinicians have long lacked reliable transcript-level tools for stratifying risk. By surveying the full chromatin remodeling gene set rather than single candidates, the authors narrowed the field to two mechanistically distinct classes: Polycomb complex components, which repress gene expression through histone modification, and histone deacetylases (HDACs), which strip acetyl groups from histones and tighten chromatin.

Both classes are established regulators of transcriptional programs, and their emergence as prognostic markers suggests epigenetic dysregulation tracks with disease outcome in this tumor type.

What could this change in practice?

If transcript-level markers of chromatin machinery validate in independent cohorts, they could support prognostic stratification beyond current staging. HDACs are already druggable — HDAC inhibitors hold regulatory approval in other malignancies — which raises the possibility that a marker class identified here could eventually pair with targeted therapy in Merkel cell carcinoma. The study does not report trial data on such agents, and any therapeutic claim would require prospective testing.

The full analysis, its cohort design and its gene-level results appear in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, available online since 12 October 2026. Independent validation in larger MCC cohorts is the logical next step before these markers move toward clinical use.