Department of Plastic Surgery, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China (mainland).
Department of Dermatology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China (mainland).
Med Sci Monit. 2020 Jul 12;26:e924570. doi: 10.12659/MSM.924570.
BACKGROUND Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) occurs primarily among elderly patients over 70 years old, but the ability to predict the prognosis of these elderly patients is poor. This population-based study aimed to identify prognostic risk factors for elderly patients with MCC. MATERIAL AND METHODS The survival and disease information of MCC patients age 65 years or older was downloaded from the SEER database, and all data were split into 2 groups based on age 80 years, with overall survival and MCC-specific survival as the main outcome indicators. RESULTS Application of the inclusion criteria yielded 1973 patients with MCC, of whom 55.6% were age 65-80 years. Among them, 1258 were males, accounting for 63.8%. In survival analysis, factors that were significantly correlated with overall survival and MCC-specific survival were N stage, M stage, liver metastasis, and lymph node surgery. CONCLUSIONS We provide epidemiological insights into Merkel cell carcinoma in elderly patients and confirmed that patients receiving lymph node surgery have better outcomes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to show that the occurrence of liver metastasis is associated with poor prognosis. Our results will help strengthen monitoring of the liver condition of elderly patients and to perform necessary lymph node surgery within the patient's tolerance.
默克尔细胞癌（MCC）主要发生在 70 岁以上的老年患者中，但预测这些老年患者预后的能力较差。本基于人群的研究旨在确定 MCC 老年患者的预后危险因素。
从 SEER 数据库中下载年龄在 65 岁或以上的 MCC 患者的生存和疾病信息，并根据年龄 80 岁将所有数据分为 2 组，以总生存和 MCC 特异性生存为主要结局指标。
应用纳入标准后，共纳入 1973 例 MCC 患者，其中 65-80 岁的占 55.6%。其中，男性 1258 例，占 63.8%。在生存分析中，与总生存和 MCC 特异性生存显著相关的因素是 N 分期、M 分期、肝转移和淋巴结手术。
我们提供了关于老年患者默克尔细胞癌的流行病学见解，并证实接受淋巴结手术的患者有更好的结局。据我们所知，这是第一项表明肝转移与预后不良相关的研究。我们的研究结果将有助于加强对老年患者肝脏状况的监测，并在患者耐受范围内进行必要的淋巴结手术。
