Complementary role of positron emission tomography in merkel cell carcinoma.
Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare type of neuroendocrine tumor of the skin with approximately 470 documented new cases annually in the United States. These tumors have high metastatic and recurrence rates, making them aggressive and difficult to treat. Diagnostic workup usually includes computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and scintigraphy methods such as octreotide scans. More recently, positron emission tomographic scanning has been used to evaluate Merkel cell carcinomas. A case of Merkel cell carcinoma, in which positron emission tomography imaging with fluorodeoxyglucose played an important role in staging, re-staging, and identifying previously unknown distant metastatic disease, is presented in this article.
Lin
Oscar
O
University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
Thomas
Aju
A
Singh
Amolak
A
Greenspan
Ben
B
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015266:Carcinoma, Merkel Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents