Merkel cell carcinoma of the face: an analysis of 16 cases in the Japanese

Background: There is no agreement regarding a staging system and optimal treatment of Merkel cell carcinoma. Some centres have reported results from larger series of patients, but these do not include Asian or Japanese centres. Objective: The purpose of this study was to retrospectively review our experience with the surgical treatment of MCC of the face in the Japanese and to study its management and outcome using the staging system described by Clark et al. Methods: We report our experiences with 16 cases between 1991 and 2004. Patients and tumour characteristics, treatment variables and outcome were analysed. Results: The follow-up periods ranged from 1 to 180 months. The average was 32.6 months and the median was 17.5 months. The relapse-free survival for all patients was 51% at 2 years. The relapse-free survival was 80% for the patients with Stage I and 33% with Stage II at 2 years. Conclusion: This staging system was suggested to reflect prognosis although the number of patients in this series was small. Sentinel lymph node biopsy should be considered to determine the accurate nodal staging, and patients with MCC of the head and neck may be treated according to the revised staging system by Clark et aL.