The rate of recurrence of the rare but aggressive skin cancer Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is markedly higher than that for invasive melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, or basal cell carcinoma, and more than half of all patients with stage IV disease will have a recurrence within 1 year of definitive therapy, results of a new study show.
A study of 618 patients with MCC who were enrolled in a Seattle-based data repository shows that among all patients, the 5-year recurrence rate was 40%. The risk of recurrence within the first year was 11% for patients with pathologic stage I disease, 33% for those with stage IIA/IIB disease, 45% for those with stage IIIB disease, and 58% for patients with pathologic stage IV MCC.
Approximately 95% of all recurrences happened within 3 years of the initial diagnosis, report Aubriana McEvoy, MD, from the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues.
"This cohort study indicates that the highest yield (and likely most cost-effective) time period for detecting MCC recurrence is 1 to 3 years after diagnosis," they write in a study published online in JAMA Dermatology.
The estimated annual incidence of MCC in the US in 2018 was 2000 according to the American Cancer Society.
