Early experience with sentinel lymph node mapping for Merkel cell carcinoma

Merkel cell or cutaneous neuroendocrine carcinoma is a malignant tumor with a propensity toward local and systemic recurrence. A new surgical techniqu e, intraoperative lymphatic mapping and selective sentinel lymph node disse ction (SSLND), has been demonstrated to have a high predictive value for th e detection of metastatic disease in the regional lymphatic basin in cutane ous melanoma. The use of this technology may be particularly useful to accu rately stage patients with Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) because this tumor h as a frequent propensity toward regional nodal metastases. Intraoperative l ymphatic mapping and SSLND were performed an 6 patients with biopsy-proven MCC. Three patients with 1 MCC had positive disease in the sentinel lymph n ode(s). SSLND is a feasible technique with minimal procedural morbidity to detect clinically occult disease in patients with MCC.