News & Publications
The latest news and publications about Merkel cell carcinoma and merkelcell.org.
This publication adds to an already large number of studies that indicate that radiation can be considered a very effective primary therapy for MCC, particularly if surgery is not feasible. The Australians often treat MCC with radiation rather than surgery, and outcomes are very good. This concept j...
Read more →P01 members Paul Nghiem, Shailender Bhatia, Candice Church, Tomoko Akaike, and Michi Shinohara were co-authors on this exciting study that looked at first-line pembrolizumab treatment responses in patients with advanced MCC with a 3 year follow up. Authors found there was a 58% overall response rate...
Read more →Although carried out in mice, this study may have interesting implications for our patients. If radiation and immune therapy (such as Keytruda/pembrolizumab or Bavencio/avelumab) are to be given around the same time as radiation, this study suggests that radiation should be given before immune ther...
Read more →Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a skin cancer with a high risk of recurrence and distant spread. Optimal care of this cancer is important. However, management is challenging because it is rare and its treatment is continuously evolving across multiple specialties. While treatment guidelines offer a b...
Read more →Background: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) management typically includes surgery with or without adjuvant radiation therapy (aRT). Major challenges include determining surgical margin size and whether aRT is indicated. Objective: To assess the association of aRT, surgical margin size, and MCC local rec...
Read more →Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an aggressive skin cancer, which is about twice as likely to metastasize as compared with melanoma.1 There are 2 distinct biological pathways for developing MCC: Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV)-induced and ultraviolet light-induced.2 In individuals immunosuppressed by...
Read more →For patients who receive immune therapy for advanced melanoma, one year of therapy seems to be enough in most cases to provide ongoing disease control. We are in the process of studying our MCC patients to gather similar information. Early data seem to indicate that MCC patients tend to benefit from...
Read more →This large study finds that being on an immune stimulating therapy for cancer does not seem to worsen severity of COVID. On the other hand, COVID is a more dangerous disease in cancer patients. Bottom line: We should treat our patients properly for their cancer (including giving them immune therapy ...
Read more →Background: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and aggressive neuroendocrine cutaneous malignancy with poor prognosis. In Europe, approved systemic therapies are limited to the PD-L1 inhibitor avelumab. For avelumab-refractory patients, efficient and safe treatment options are lacking. Methods: A...
Read more →Another study (this one from Spain) documenting the striking utility of PET/CT scanning in MCC, particularly at baseline, when we strongly advocate for this technology. Staging and management were altered in a large proportion of patients.
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