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@ARTICLE{Becker:307633,
      author       = {J. Becker$^*$ and G. Lodde and M. Haist and S. Ugurel},
      title        = {{M}erkel cell carcinoma immunotherapy: key questions in the
                      era of immune checkpoint blockade.},
      journal      = {Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer},
      volume       = {14},
      number       = {1},
      issn         = {2051-1426},
      address      = {London},
      publisher    = {BioMed Central},
      reportid     = {DKFZ-2026-00104},
      pages        = {e014090},
      year         = {2026},
      note         = {#DKTKZFB26#},
      abstract     = {Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) exemplifies the paradigm of
                      immunogenic tumors that nonetheless develop sophisticated
                      immune evasion mechanisms. This is in line with the
                      observation that MCC exhibits remarkable susceptibility to
                      immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), with responses in
                      approximately half of patients with advanced disease in the
                      first-line setting. However, $40-50\%$ of patients show
                      primary ICI resistance, while $20-30\%$ of patients develop
                      acquired ICI resistance on initial disease control. Still,
                      the advent of ICI therapy represents a revolutionary rather
                      than evolutionary advance in MCC management, fundamentally
                      transforming outcomes from the dismal prognosis associated
                      with conventional chemotherapy to durable responses
                      extending substantially beyond 2 years. Still, important
                      questions remain: (1) Is programmed cell death protein-1 or
                      programmed death-ligand 1 inhibition more effective? (2) How
                      long should ICI treatment continue? (3) What is the best
                      choice of salvage therapy for patients with primary or
                      acquired ICI resistance? (4) Which combination regimens can
                      increase the share of patients benefiting from ICI? (5)
                      Which patient/tumor characteristics predict response and its
                      duration? Finally, (6) which timing of ICI therapy, that is,
                      the neoadjuvant, adjuvant or therapeutic setting, offers the
                      optimal overall outcomes for patients with MCC? A number of
                      recent studies provide initial, but unfortunately not yet
                      definitive answers.},
      subtyp        = {Review Article},
      keywords     = {Humans / Carcinoma, Merkel Cell: drug therapy / Carcinoma,
                      Merkel Cell: immunology / Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors:
                      therapeutic use / Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: pharmacology
                      / Immunotherapy: methods / Skin Neoplasms: drug therapy /
                      Skin Neoplasms: immunology / Adjuvant (Other) / Biomarker
                      (Other) / Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor (Other) /
                      Immunotherapy (Other) / Neoadjuvant (Other) / Immune
                      Checkpoint Inhibitors (NLM Chemicals)},
      cin          = {ED01},
      ddc          = {610},
      cid          = {I:(DE-He78)ED01-20160331},
      pnm          = {899 - ohne Topic (POF4-899)},
      pid          = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-899},
      typ          = {PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
      pubmed       = {pmid:41529910},
      doi          = {10.1136/jitc-2025-014090},
      url          = {https://inrepo02.dkfz.de/record/307633},
}