[Disseminated neuroendocrine cancers of the skin--a cutaneous merkeliomatosis. Report of 2 cases].

Two nearly identical cases with about 100 multicentric disseminated neuroendocrine carcinomas of the skin are presented. In the Merkel cell tumors a for epithelial cells specific antigen (MAM-6) was found by immunohistochemical methods. Only in one patient generalized metastases arose after a four year course of the disease. The other patient committed suicide after a three year course of the disease. At autopsy no metastases were seen. We assume these diseases to be a systemic proliferation of malignant neuroendocrine differentiated epithelial cells, for which the term "cutaneous Merkeliomatosis" is proposed.