Merkel Cell Carcinoma: 27-Year Experience at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

15-Year Experience of 18F-FDG PET Imaging in Response Assessment and Restaging After Definitive Treatment of Merkel Cell Carcinoma

“…There are also a lack of data to guide optimal management and post-treatment assessment for MCC. An overall 5-y survival rate of about 60% for all stages of MCC combined has been reported (3), and our institution has reported an estimated 45% 5-y rate in patients with stage I-III MCC (14). Cases of successful salvage have been reported in studies in which patients had locoregional recurrent disease and received multimodality treatment (15,16).…”

Five Hundred Patients With Merkel Cell Carcinoma Evaluated at a Single Institution

“…Other single-institution cohorts have reported on smaller numbers of patients. 10,[13][14][15][17][18][19] Several large database and national cancer registries have attempted to characterize the natural history of MCC. 5,6,12,20 The AJCC 7th edition staging system is based on an analysis of 5823 patients with MCC from the NCDB.…”

“…[8][9][10][11][12] As such, the natural history of MCC remains poorly characterized, with survival and recurrence estimates based on numerous small case series often limited by incomplete staging, heterogeneous treatment, short follow-up, and missing recurrence information. 10,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Several large database series, such as those utilizing the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program, 5 the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB), 6 and governmental cancer registries 20 have attempted to overcome these limitations and more accurately characterize MCC to guide treatment and follow-up recommendations. Although those databases increase the number of patients with MCC analyzed, they are constrained by the limited information captured.…”

Benefits of combined modality treatment of Merkel cell carcinoma of the head and neck: single institution experience

“…In contrast to previously published studies, this result is likely to be related to: our larger sample size; the long median duration of follow up (22 months), during which a significant proportion of patients developed a recurrence (22 of 50, 44 per cent); and the fact that a large proportion of patients received radiation treatment (46 of 54, 85 per cent). The relationship between radiotherapy and disease control is well established in whole-body Merkel cell carcinoma, [2][3][4]8,18,19,[23][24][25][26][27][28] and more recently in Merkel cell carcinoma of the head and neck. [10][11][12] In a literature review of 1024 patients, Medina-Franco et al found that local recurrence was reduced by almost 40 per cent with the introduction of radiotherapy ( p < 0.00001).…”

“…1,8,9,14,15,20,31,34,35 Merkel cell carcinoma is a radiosensitive tumour, and radiation offers regional control without the morbidity associated with surgical neck dissection. 16,19,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29] In the past, most centres have offered both therapies to patients with node-positive disease; they may or may not have offered elective regional radiotherapy for those with node-negative disease. 3,4,8,9,11,14,16,19,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]36,37 In this series, 93 per cent of patients with node-positive disease received regional radiotherapy, but only 33 per cent of patients underwent lymph node dissection.…”