Merkel cell carcinoma. Improved locoregional control with postoperative radiation therapy.

Between April 1981 and May 1990, 11 patients with Merkel cell carcinoma were treated with radiation therapy in Tucson, Arizona. The length of follow-up time from the time of irradiation ranged from 6 to 64 months. Locoregional control was maintained in seven of eight patients treated with surgery and postoperative radiation therapy for primary or recurrent cancer. The other three patients had bulky metastatic disease at the time of referral. Palliation was achieved in all three patients with radiation therapy. Hyperthermia also appeared to be beneficial in the one patient in which it was used, and chemotherapy achieved responses in two of four patients. These results, combined with a review of the literature, suggest that the administration of radiation therapy postoperatively to both the surgical bed and the draining lymph nodes improves locoregional control and may result in long-term disease-free survival when administered after the initial surgical resection.