Regional Lymph Node Irradiation in Locally Advanced Merkel Cell Carcinoma Reduces Regional and Distant Relapse and Improves Disease-Specific Survival

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare, highly aggressive cutaneous malignancy. MCC has a high propensity for metastasis to regional lymph nodes and distant sites, and 26-32% of patients present with locally advanced disease involving the regional lymph nodes [1]. This includes both clinically detected nodal disease and occult disease detected with a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNLB). Five-year survival for patients with locally advanced MCC is poor, reported to be 26.8% for those with clinically detected disease and 39.7% for patients with microscopically detected disease [1].

Source: Radiotherapy and Oncology - November 16, 2020 Category: Radiology Authors: Neal Andruska, Lily Mahapatra, Randall J. Brenneman, Yi Huang, Randal C. Paniello, Sidharth V. Pura, Mena Mansour, Jason T. Rich, Brian C. Baumman, Wade L. Thorstad, Mackenzie D. Daly Tags: Original Article Source Type: research