Treatment Merkel cell carcinoma of the facial skin – case report

*Konrad Wroński¹, Zbigniew Masłowski², Przemysław Stefaniak², Leszek Frąckowiak³

Summary
Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare neuroendocrine malignancy of the skin. It is highly aggressive skin cancer which is observed in patients older than 50 years (more than 95%). Merkel cell carcinoma was first time described by Toker in 1972. Merkel cell carcinoma often presents a rapid growth, reddish-blue dermal papule and can be asymptomatic. Surgery and radiotherapy are the most important in treatment Merkel cell carcinoma. Up to 48% of Merkel cell carcinomas are located in the head and neck region. Recommendations for surgery are based on the clinical size of the primary tumor. Excision margins for tumors < 2 cm should be 1 cm, and for tumors > 2 cm the margins should be 2 cm. Sentinel lymph node biopsy is recommended for all untreated primary tumors at the time of wide local excision. SLN biopsy is important in the staging and prognosis of Merkel cell carcinoma. In this article the authors presented a case of a 60-year-old man, Caucasian race, who was admitted to the hospital because of Merkel cell carcinoma of the facial skin. The patient underwent wide excision of the tumor and in the sixth day after surgery was discharged home.

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