Importance of Surgical Margins in Patients with Early-Stage Merkel Cell Carcinoma.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recommends excision of the primary tumor using 1-2-cm surgical margins and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) as the initial management of early-stage Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). However, there is no clear consensus on the appropriate size of the surgical margins and/or the use of Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS). Our aim was to demonstrate that, independent of the type of surgery, obtaining negative surgical margins is associated with enhanced overall survival (OS).

Methods

A retrospective study was performed using early-stage MCC patients from the National Cancer Database (NCDB) who were diagnosed between 2004 and 2020 and underwent surgical excision (SE) of their primary tumor. Patients were stratified into thre

SUBMITTER: Cowman AW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11909352 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature