Spontaneous lung metastasis formation of human Merkel cell carcinoma cell lines transplanted into scid mice.

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an aggressive skin cancer entity that frequently leads to rapid death due to its high propensity to metastasize. The etiology of most MCC cases is linked to Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV), a virus which is monoclonally integrated in up to 95% of tumors. While there are presently no animal models to study the role of authentic MCPyV infection on transformation, tumorigenesis or metastasis formation, xenograft mouse models employing engrafted MCC-derived cell lines (MCCL) represent a promising approach to study certain aspects of MCC pathogenesis.

Nasal speech associated with hyperaeration of the sphenoid sinus.

The sinus sphenoidalis is the paranasal sinus most centrally located in the skull base and known to vary extremely in dimensions. A very large volume of the sinus visible on skull radiographs is called sinus 'hyperaeration'. This finding has been described many times in the literature, but is generally rare.