Multimodality management for 145 cases of Merkel cell carcinoma

The results of the multimodality management of 145 cases of cutaneous Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) are reported herein. Patient information was obtained from medical records of four Canadian institutions and one French institution. These data included ages, pathological stages, disease sites, histological and treatment details. Cause-specific survival (CSS), overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates were analyzed by the log-rank and Kaplan-Meier methods. From 1988 to 2007, 145 cases were analyzed. There were 74 men and 71 women. Median age was 78 years (range 47-95.2). Median follow-up was 21.5 months (range 0.5-169.1). During the follow-up period, 37 local, 37 regional nodal and 15 distant recurrences were determined to be either solitary or multifocal sites of treatment failure. Relapsing patients were treated with multimodal treatments provided that their general state of health did not preclude this approach. Either initially and/or at relapse, 30 patients were treated with either multiagent (mostly etoposide with cisplatin or carboplatin) or single-agent chemotherapy, including irinotecan, taxotere and topotecan. In conclusion, recurrence should be treated with multimodalities. Our experience of long-term survivors after treatment of recurrence is encouraging.