Sentinel lymph node dissection for merkel cell carcinoma

Merkel cell carcinoma is an aggressive neuroendocrine skin tumor whose treatment modality is still controversial. It resembles malignant melanoma in its cutaneous presentation, unpredictable biologic behavior, early regional lymph node involvement, early distant metastases, and high recurrence rate. Regarding these common features, we used sentinel node biopsy (a well-described technique for the treatment of malignant melanoma) in a 50-year-old man with Merkel cell carcinoma of the left arm. Only one sentinel lymph node was identified and it was revealed to be disease-free on histology. No further axillary dissection was performed. This case report shows that sentinel node biopsy is applicable to Merkel cell carcinoma.