Al-Ghazal S K, Arora D S, Simpson R H, Saxby P
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, UK.
Br J Plast Surg. 1996 Oct;49(7):491-6. doi: 10.1016/s0007-1226(96)90040-5.
Primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin or Merkel cell carcinoma is an aggressive primary neoplasm. It is commonly seen in the elderly, on the head, neck and extremities, where it can mimic a benign or less malignant skin tumour. Pathological examination shows a generally dense growth of small dark cells, with immunohistochemical evidence of neuroendocrine differentiation. The microscopic appearance is very similar to metastatic oat cell carcinoma from the lung and this must be excluded by clinical means and appropriate imaging studies. In this study we present 13 new cases of Merkel cell carcinoma (the largest published series in the UK) and summarize 214 cases from the literature in which the survival data are given. In our series, 5 of 13 patients died from spread of the Merkel cell carcinoma. From this and other studies, it appears that early diagnosis and wide local excision may be the only way to prolong survival. No other adjuvant therapy has proved effective.
皮肤原发性神经内分泌癌或默克尔细胞癌是一种侵袭性原发性肿瘤。它常见于老年人，好发于头、颈和四肢，在此处它可能类似良性或恶性程度较低的皮肤肿瘤。病理检查显示小的深色细胞通常呈致密生长，并有神经内分泌分化的免疫组化证据。显微镜下表现与肺转移性燕麦细胞癌非常相似，必须通过临床手段和适当的影像学检查加以排除。在本研究中，我们报告了13例新的默克尔细胞癌病例（英国已发表的最大系列病例），并总结了文献中给出生存数据的214例病例。在我们的系列病例中，13例患者中有5例死于默克尔细胞癌的扩散。从这项研究和其他研究来看，早期诊断和广泛局部切除可能是延长生存期的唯一方法。尚无其他辅助治疗被证明有效。
