A Case of Localized Merkel Cell Carcinoma on the Upper Eyelid

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To report a case of Merkel cell carcinoma on the left upper eyelid without metastasis and its immunohistochemical features. The carcinoma was successfully treated with excisional surgery and prophylactic radiation therapy. CASE SUMMARY: A 76-year-old woman presented to the hospital complaining of a 0.6 x 0.9-cm-sized painless and purplish-red colored mass that had grown rapidly on her left upper eyelid margin over the previous two months. An excisional biopsy was performed. On immunohistochemical examination of the lesion, the tumor cells expressed immunoreactivity for synaptophysin and were negative for LAC and cytokeratin, confirming the diagnosis of Merkel cell carcinoma. Additional surgery was performed because the surgical margins were positive. No other primary or metastatic lesions were found. The patient was treated with local prophylactic irradiation and remained disease-free at her 10-month follow-up visit.