A Practical Update of Surgical Management of Merkel Cell Carcinoma of the Skin

Table 5

Important prognostic factors for disease-free survival [8].

Favorable
Initial localized disease
Surgery as part of the treatment
Adjuvant radiotherapy
Unfavorable
Age > 70 years
Male sex
Trunk site
Head and neck site—especially lip
Size of primary > 2 cm
Initial nodal disease presentation, especially if >2; Involved nodes
Initial distant disease presentation
Histology—small-cell size, high mitotic rate, depth of; invasion
Lymphovascular invasion
Infiltrative, rather than a nodular, growth pattern