Original articleThe impact of 18F-FDG PET-CT scanning for staging and management of Merkel cell carcinoma: Results from Westmead Hospital, Sydney, Australia
Section snippets
Methods
Two of the authors (R.C., M.V.) retrospectively reviewed the records (prospectively acquired data) of 18 select patients undergoing 21 PET-CT scans for management of MCC at our institution from 2006 to 2008. Common indications for scanning were suspected nodal or distant disease not clinically detected at initial diagnosis (n = 12), or in the setting of disease relapse (n = 9). During this period, most patients with obvious clinical stage I or IV disease were generally prescribed treatment
Presentation
Patient demographics are presented in Table I. Median age at first scan was 79 years (range, 54 to 85 years), and median duration of follow-up was 9 months (range, 1 to 27 months). Changes in stage or management following PET-CT are presented in Table II. PET-CT scans were performed for assessment of stage at initial presentation (n = 12) or following relapse (n = 9). Six of 12 patients (50%) undergoing PET-CT for first presentation had previously undergone excision of the primary lesion prior
Discussion
MCC was originally described by Toker18 in 1972. It derives from Merkel cells, which are found in the dermoepidermal junction and are generally considered neuroendocrine cells with mechanoreceptor function. MCC is an aggressive tumor, with cause-specific mortality exceeding that of melanoma.19 It is associated with high rates of early (<12 months) relapse, with reports of many patients eventually developing regional nodal and distant metastatic disease.17, 20, 21
The largest reported series of
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Funding sources: None.
Conflicts of interest: None declared.