Carcinoma de células de Merkel. Actualización

Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare and aggressive form of skin cancer, accounting for less than 1% of malignant skin tumours. A highly malignant carcinoma, it has a mortality rate at five years of greater than 50% and is second only to melanoma as the cause of death from skin cancer. It consists of small cells with epithelial and endocrine characteristics. Given the high mortality and rate of local recurrence and metastases, early diagnosis is important, as a timely intervention could improve the prognosis. In recent years there has been an increase in the diagnosis of this entity, probably due to better diagnostic capacity.