Thus, HDAC inhibitor mediated MICA and MICB induction in MCC is likely to enhance the effects of immune therapeutic approaches currently tested in the clinic: (i) autologous MCPyV specific CD8+ T cell transfer (NCT01758458), (ii) CTLA-4 blocking antibody ipilimumab (NCT02196961), (iii) PD-L1 blocking antibody MSB0010718C (NCT02155647), or cytokine based therapies using (iv) tumor-stroma targeting antibody-IL2 fusion proteins (NCT02054884) or (v) IL12-encoding plasmids delivered by electroporation (NCT01440816). The gene discussed is CD8A; the disease is Merkel cell skin cancer.