ArticleJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology2021
Narrow excision margins are appropriate for Merkel cell carcinoma when combined with adjuvant radiation: Analysis of 188 cases of localized disease and proposed management algorithm.
Article in Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Japanese Dermatological Association Guidelines: Clinical Questions of Guidelines for Merkel Cell Carcinoma 2025.The Journal of dermatology · 2025Guideline
- Effectiveness and Safety of Treatments for Early-Stage Merkel Cell Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized and Non-Randomized Studies.Cancer medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Management of Merkel Cell Carcinoma of the Digits, Hand, and Wrist.Plastic surgery (Oakville, Ont.) · 2026Review
- One dose of adjuvant 8 Gray postoperative radiotherapy for Merkel cell carcinoma excised with narrow margins: Low toxicity and comparable efficacy to conventional radiotherapy.Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology · 2026Article
- [Merkel cell carcinoma: current surgical approaches and multidisciplinary treatment].Revista medica del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social · 2026Review
- Optimal Duration of Adjuvant Platinum-Etoposide in High-Risk Merkel Cell Carcinoma.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Article
- Merkel cell carcinoma: long-term outcomes after radiotherapy treatment.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026Article
- Management and Outcomes of Merkel Cell Carcinoma in Canada Between 2000 and 2018 from the Pan-Canadian Merkel Cell Collaborative.Annals of surgical oncology · 2025Article
- Article
- Importance of Surgical Margins in Patients with Early-Stage Merkel Cell Carcinoma.Dermatology and therapy · 2025Article
- Merkel cell carcinoma with concurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip treated with Mohs micrographic surgery: A case report.JAAD case reports · 2024Article
- Increased risk of recurrence and disease-specific death following delayed postoperative radiation for Merkel cell carcinoma.Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology · 2024Article
- Primary tumor site for localized Merkel cell carcinoma drives different management strategies without impacting oncologic outcomes.Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology · 2023Article
- The Evolving Treatment Landscape of Merkel Cell Carcinoma.Current treatment options in oncology · 2023Review
- Merkel cell carcinoma: a forty-year experience at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.BMC cancer · 2023Article
- Review
- Clinicopathological features, MCPyV status and outcomes of Merkel cell carcinoma in solid-organ transplant recipients: a retrospective, multicentre cohort study.Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV · 2022Article
- Review
- Risk factors for and prognostic impact of positive surgical margins after excision of Merkel cell carcinoma.Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology · 2022Article
- Scientific and clinical developments in Merkel cell carcinoma: A polyomavirus-driven, often-lethal skin cancer.Journal of dermatological science · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMerkel cell carcinoma (MCC) management typically includes surgery with or without adjuvant radiation therapy (aRT). Major challenges include determining surgical margin size and whether aRT is indicated.
objectiveTo assess the association of aRT, surgical margin size, and MCC local recurrence.
methodsAnalysis of 188 MCC cases presenting without clinical nodal involvement.
resultsaRT-treated patients tended to have higher-risk tumors (larger diameter, positive microscopic margins, immunosuppression) yet had fewer local recurrences (LRs) than patients treated with surgery only (1% vs 15%; P = .001). For patients who underwent surgery alone, 7 of 35 (20%) treated with narrow margins (defined as ≤1.0 cm) developed LR, whereas 0 of 13 patients treated with surgical margins greater than 1.0 cm developed LR (P = .049). For aRT-treated patients, local control was excellent regardless of surgical margin size; only 1% experienced recurrence in each group (1 of 70 with narrow margins ≤1 cm and 1 of 70 with margins >1 cm; P = .56). LIMITATIONS: This was a retrospective study.
conclusionsAmong patients treated with aRT, local control was superb even if significant risk factors were present and margins were narrow. We propose an algorithm for managing primary MCC that integrates risk factors and optimizes local control while minimizing morbidity.
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