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Merkel Cell Carcinoma: A Retrospective Study on 48 Cases and Review of Literature

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and aggressive neuroendocrine tumor of the skin. Fourty-eight patients with MCC were observed at the Rare Hormonal Tumors Group of Cremona Hospital, 15 of these with unknown primary site. Due to rarity of Merkel cell carcinoma, clinical experience is generally l...

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Autores principales: Cirillo, Fernando, Vismarra, Marco, Cafaro, Ines, Martinotti, Mario
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3449125/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23024654
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/749030
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author Cirillo, Fernando
Vismarra, Marco
Cafaro, Ines
Martinotti, Mario
author_facet Cirillo, Fernando
Vismarra, Marco
Cafaro, Ines
Martinotti, Mario
author_sort Cirillo, Fernando
collection PubMed
description Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and aggressive neuroendocrine tumor of the skin. Fourty-eight patients with MCC were observed at the Rare Hormonal Tumors Group of Cremona Hospital, 15 of these with unknown primary site. Due to rarity of Merkel cell carcinoma, clinical experience is generally limited. Data from our series confirm the current recommendations. Wide surgical excision must be associated with radiotherapy also in early stages in order to avoid local relapse and the rapid progression of disease. In advanced stages chemotherapy is the standard despite the short duration of responses and poor quality of life. The data of our series, characterized by a high demand for second opinion, offer some insight about the real rarity of the tumor, the difficulty of managing of disease in our country secondary to a wrong cultural approach to the problem, the indiscriminate use of molecules unnecessary and often expensive, the lack of protocols, and the presence of guidelines often ignored. This results in very poor survival associated with a very low quality of life, requiring to find the right direction towards a correct management of disease.
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spelling pubmed-34491252012-09-28 Merkel Cell Carcinoma: A Retrospective Study on 48 Cases and Review of Literature Cirillo, Fernando Vismarra, Marco Cafaro, Ines Martinotti, Mario J Oncol Clinical Study Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and aggressive neuroendocrine tumor of the skin. Fourty-eight patients with MCC were observed at the Rare Hormonal Tumors Group of Cremona Hospital, 15 of these with unknown primary site. Due to rarity of Merkel cell carcinoma, clinical experience is generally limited. Data from our series confirm the current recommendations. Wide surgical excision must be associated with radiotherapy also in early stages in order to avoid local relapse and the rapid progression of disease. In advanced stages chemotherapy is the standard despite the short duration of responses and poor quality of life. The data of our series, characterized by a high demand for second opinion, offer some insight about the real rarity of the tumor, the difficulty of managing of disease in our country secondary to a wrong cultural approach to the problem, the indiscriminate use of molecules unnecessary and often expensive, the lack of protocols, and the presence of guidelines often ignored. This results in very poor survival associated with a very low quality of life, requiring to find the right direction towards a correct management of disease. Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2012 2012-09-13 /pmc/articles/PMC3449125/ /pubmed/23024654 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/749030 Text en Copyright © 2012 Fernando Cirillo et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Clinical Study
Cirillo, Fernando
Vismarra, Marco
Cafaro, Ines
Martinotti, Mario
Merkel Cell Carcinoma: A Retrospective Study on 48 Cases and Review of Literature
title Merkel Cell Carcinoma: A Retrospective Study on 48 Cases and Review of Literature
title_full Merkel Cell Carcinoma: A Retrospective Study on 48 Cases and Review of Literature
title_fullStr Merkel Cell Carcinoma: A Retrospective Study on 48 Cases and Review of Literature
title_full_unstemmed Merkel Cell Carcinoma: A Retrospective Study on 48 Cases and Review of Literature
title_short Merkel Cell Carcinoma: A Retrospective Study on 48 Cases and Review of Literature
title_sort merkel cell carcinoma: a retrospective study on 48 cases and review of literature
topic Clinical Study
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3449125/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23024654
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/749030
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