User:Drizzlsizzl/sandbox

Hi Dr. Wang,

Thank you for your feedback! Pete and I have coordinated our separate parts and I have made my edits below.

Best,

Meriah

Hi Meriah,

The first proposed change, changing wording from "cause by" to "believe to be caused by", doesn't alter the meaning of the sentence much. I think you need to rephrase the whole sentence.

I also think the second proposed change is not very necessary, as it is correct in stating that merkel cell polyomavirus is involved in the pathogenesis of the tumour. We just don't know the details like the exact mechanism and if it is a factor in all MCC or just a subset. I suggest you find another sentence to change or add.

Also, looking at Peter's assignment, you two have picked the same sentences to edit. Can you coordinate with him and edit some different sentences.

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 * Note: Please use your sandbox to submit assignment # 3 by pasting it below. When uploading your improvements to the article talk page please share your exact proposed edit (not the full assignment 3).


 * Talk Page Template: CARL Medical Editing Initiative/Fall 2019/Talk Page Template

ASSIGNMENT 2
I plan on using this article to create a statement demonstrating the pathophysiological causes of Merkel-Cell Carcinoma. We are planning on clarifying the introduction paragraph as well since it incorrectly outlines the causes of the disease.

1) How you searched for a source (search strategy – where you went to find it).

Pubmed search: ("carcinoma, merkel cell"[MeSH Terms] OR ("carcinoma"[All Fields] AND "merkel"[All Fields] AND "cell"[All Fields]) OR "merkel cell carcinoma"[All Fields] OR ("merkel"[All Fields] AND "cell"[All Fields] AND "carcinoma"[All Fields])) AND (Review[ptyp] AND ("2019/01/01"[PDAT] : "2019/12/31"[PDAT]))

2) What potential sources were identified and considered (give examples of 1 or 2).

Kervarrec T, Samimi M, Guyétant S, et al. Histogenesis of Merkel Cell Carcinoma: A Comprehensive Review. Front Oncol. 2019;9:451. Published 2019 Jun 10. doi:10.3389/fonc.2019.00451

Tetzlaff, M. T., & Harms, P. W. (2019). Danger is only skin deep: Aggressive epidermal carcinomas. An overview of the diagnosis, demographics, molecular-genetics, staging, prognostic biomarkers, and therapeutic advances in Merkel cell carcinoma. Modern Pathology: An Official Journal of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41379-019-0394-6

3) Why the source was chosen (what made it better than other choices).

This article specifically talks about the different hypotheses as to how MCC is caused. Several possibilities are considered, beyond just the Merkel Cell Polyomavirus (MCPyV). The other article focuses primarily on MCC caused by MCPyV, and for my assigned section I’d like to focus on multiple causes.

4) List at least three reasons why the source that was selected meets Wikipedia’s reliable medical sources (MEDRS) criteria.

-This is a secondary source published in Frontiers in Oncology, a reputable journal

-This article was published in 2019, and reflects current knowledge

-This article is a systematic review, which has high evidence quality.

5) How do you plan to use the source for improving the article?

I will use the information to update the pathophysiology section of the Wikipedia article. It currently states that MCC is caused by MCPyV but the exact mechanism of how the cancer is caused is not currently known. The article above delves further into this topic.

ASSIGNMENT 3
Proposed Changes

Introduction

OLD: Merkel-cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and highly aggressive skin cancer, which, in most cases, is caused by the Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV or MCV) discovered by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh in 2008.

NEW: Merkel-cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and highly aggressive skin cancer. Factors involved in the development of MCC include the Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV or MCV), a weakened immune system, and exposure to ultraviolet radiation.

Rationale for proposed changes

There does not appear to be any definitive evidence at this time that MCC is caused by MCPyV. While evidence strongly suggests that MCPyV is associated with the disease, the exact mechanism of the disease is unknown at this time. I can imagine that this statement could be controversial in that many research articles state that MCPyV causes MCC. However, this recently published review article (from 2019) suggests that the mechanism of disease is not known, and therefore a causal link between MCPyV and MCC cannot be made at this time.

Critique of Source

Given that I am making these changes based on a comprehensive review article, potential sources of bias to consider are the search strategy for the sources, as well as the selection of the sources (including publication bias).

The search strategy was not clearly defined by this article, and therefore bias could have influenced the way in which articles were selected (e.g. articles which supported the authors' hypotheses could have been searched for more thoroughly, or given more attention).

In terms of selection bias, there did not appear to be any criterion by which articles were selected. The quality of the individual articles is not presented in the paper, nor was there a forest plot presented to provide a graphic visualization of the results of each individual study considered. Furthermore, the authors did not provide a funnel plot, nor an analysis comparing the different articles they used, and as such it is difficult to determine the impact of publication bias on the results. It is possible that studies used in this review article were largely from articles that found positive or statistically significant results, when the truth may just not be published at this time.

Overall, however, this article provided a number of different hypotheses that could explain the mechanism of MCC, none of which suggested a causal link between MCPyV and MCC. Given that so many different options were explored, I feel as though the authors made a thorough search throughout the literature and considered the mechanism of disease from a variety of different angles. This paper would have been stronger had it presented the search strategy used, as well as more information about the individual articles considered in addressing the research question.