Papadiochos Ioannis, Patrikidou Anna, Patsatsi Aikaterini, Mangoudi Doxa, Thuau Henri, Vahtsevanos Konstantinos
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Theagenio Cancer Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Academic Uro-Oncology Unit, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK.
Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol. 2018 Feb;125(2):126-139. doi: 10.1016/j.oooo.2017.09.019. Epub 2017 Dec 2.
Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare cutaneous malignancy with a high recurrence and mortality rates. More than half of MCCs occur in the head and neck region. This paper aims to present a retrospective case series study of primary MCCs of the head and neck treated in our department over 12 years.
Six patients were identified, and their characteristics, treatment modalities, and outcomes are reported. A critical review of the current literature is also included to provide up-to-date information on MCCs with special emphasis on treatment modalities and disease prognosis.
Management of head and neck MCCs requires early and accurate diagnosis and includes surgery, radiotherapy, and/or combination chemotherapy. Accurate cervical nodal staging is of paramount importance before establishing the definite treatment plan.
The results of both our case series and literature data review indicate that elective management of regional lymph nodes is recommended instead of an observation approach for patients with no identifiable disease in the lymph nodes (cN0). Because the majority of MCCs arise in the head and neck region, oral and maxillofacial surgeons are likely be the first professionals who will encounter this disease and should therefore be aware of the current diagnostic and treatment modalities.
默克尔细胞癌（MCC）是一种罕见的皮肤恶性肿瘤，复发率和死亡率很高。超过半数的MCC发生在头颈部区域。本文旨在呈现一项对我院12年间收治的头颈部原发性MCC进行的回顾性病例系列研究。
确定了6例患者，并报告了他们的特征、治疗方式及结果。还对当前文献进行了批判性综述，以提供关于MCC的最新信息，特别强调治疗方式和疾病预后。
头颈部MCC的治疗需要早期准确诊断，包括手术、放疗和/或联合化疗。在确定明确的治疗方案之前，准确的颈部淋巴结分期至关重要。
我们的病例系列研究结果和文献数据回顾均表明，对于淋巴结无明确病变（cN0）的患者，建议采用选择性区域淋巴结处理方式，而非观察等待。由于大多数MCC发生在头颈部区域，口腔颌面外科医生很可能是最先接触到这种疾病的专业人员，因此应了解当前的诊断和治疗方式。
