ORIGINAL ARTICLE MERKEL CELL CARCINOMA OF THE HEAD AND NECK: IS

Abstract: Background. Controversy exists regarding the opti-mal management of patients with Merkel cell carcinoma. The pri-mary aim of this study was to determine whether combined treat-ment with surgery and radiotherapy improves outcome in a multi-institutional cohort of patients with Merkel cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The secondary aims were to determine by stage, which patients derive benefit from combined therapy and to identify predictors for survival on multivariable analysis. Methods. A retrospective analysis of 110 patients with Mer-kel cell carcinoma of the head and neck was performed. Dat