title: A case of long-term survival following hepatectomy for liver metastasis of Merkel cell carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare endocrine tumor that presents as a rapidly growing skin nodule of the body, and it is aggressive with regional nodal and distant metastases without clearly defined treatment. There are no reports of long survivors among patients with liver metastasis of MCC. The current case was a patient who underwent surgical resection for liver metastasis of Merkel cell carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  This case describes a 73-year-old female with a papule on the dorsal side of the right third finger and liver tumor. The papule of the right third finger was histologically diagnosed as MCC by the skin biopsy. She underwent extensive resection and lymph node dissection of the right third finger and partial resection of the liver. The liver tumor was histologically diagnosed as liver metastasis of MCC. The patient remains well without any evidence of tumor recurrence more than 5 years after surgery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first report of a long-term survival of more than 5 years following liver metastasis of MCC, which was surgically resected. Patients with small and solitary metastatic liver tumor of MCC may have a chance for a long-term survival following the hepatic resection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. shoda@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Katsutoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shoda
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. ikoma@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikoma
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. yamayu-1@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. ponkino@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.|Department of Pathology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan. ponkino@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. morimura@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Morimura
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. h-koni7@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hirotaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Konishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. murayama@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yasutoshi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Murayama
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. skomatsu@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Shuhei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Komatsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. shiozaki@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shiozaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. kuriu@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kuriu
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. mnakan@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Masayoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakanishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. ichikawa@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. hfuji@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. kazuma@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kazuma
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. sakakura@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Chohei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sakakura
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, North Medical Center Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan. tochiai@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Toshiya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ochiai
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Japanese Red Cross Kyoto Daini Hospital, Kyoto, Japan. htan@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan. yasukawa@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yasukawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. otsuji@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Eigo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Otsuji
keywords: Hepatectomy; Liver metastasis; Merkel cell carcinoma