ArticleDermatology practical & conceptual2025
Distant Metastasis of Merkel Cell Carcinoma: A Descriptive Study.
Article in Dermatology practical & conceptual, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
19 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThere are few studies on the pattern of distant spread of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC).
objectivesTo analyse the most frequent locations of distant metastases from MCC and their possible relationship with the location of the primary tumour.
methodsPatients diagnosed with cutaneous MCC between 1988 and 2022 were included in the study. The locations of the first metastases detected were recorded, both at tumour diagnosis and during follow-up after initial treatment.
resultsOne hundred patients were diagnosed with MCC. Distant metastases were detected in 31 patients (seven at diagnosis and 24 during follow-up), with a total of 52 locations: 17 non-regional lymph node metastases, 10 bone, seven liver, six lung, four non-regional cutaneous/subcutaneous, three pancreatic, two adrenal, two pharyngeal, and one mammary. No patient developed metastasis to the central nervous system. Recurrences occurred in 84% of patients before two years of follow-up. Although differences were not significant, MCCs located in the extremities tended to metastasize to extra-regional lymph nodes and those in the head and neck to bone, liver, and lung.
conclusionsMCC produces metastases mainly in non-regional lymph nodes, bone, liver, and lung. Given its high frequency (1/3 of patients), we consider performing scheduled imaging tests during the first two years of follow-up advisable. Specific imaging tests for central nervous system could be reserved for patients with neurological symptoms.
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.