Department of Internal Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
Department of Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute/Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA; Department of Advanced Medical Innovation, St. Marianna University Graduate School of Medicine, Kawasaki, Japan.
Oral Oncol. 2019 Dec;99:104350. doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2019.06.031. Epub 2019 Jul 2.
Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare but aggressive neuroendocrine skin malignancy. We report here a case of localized MCC achieving pathologic complete response upon treatment with avelumab in the neoadjuvant setting. Preclinical and clinical studies have revealed a close relationship between MCC and the immune system, thus supporting a role for PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in MCC. This neoadjuvant use of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors can avoid potentially disfiguring surgery in MCC. As the incidence of MCC is rising, clinical trials are needed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy in resectable disease.
默克尔细胞癌（Merkel cell carcinoma，MCC）是一种罕见但侵袭性的神经内分泌皮肤恶性肿瘤。在此，我们报告了一例局部 MCC 患者，在新辅助治疗中使用avelumab 治疗后达到病理完全缓解。临床前和临床研究揭示了 MCC 与免疫系统之间的密切关系，因此支持 PD-1/PD-L1 抑制剂在 MCC 中的作用。这种 PD-1/PD-L1 抑制剂的新辅助应用可以避免 MCC 潜在的毁容手术。随着 MCC 发病率的上升，需要进行临床试验来评估免疫疗法在可切除疾病中的疗效和安全性。
