Utilization of indocyanine green to aid in identifying sentinel lymph nodes in Merkel cell cancer

In this study, we indicate that ICG-based fluorescence is not only feasible to augment SLN identification, but it has a higher node localization rate as compared to blue dye and it was able to identify positive SLNs otherwise missed by gamma probe. This study suggests the importance of utilizing two modalities to augment SLN identification and that ICG-based fluorescence may be able to identify nodes that would have been otherwise missed by gamma probe. We will continue to follow these patients and enroll more patients in this prospective study to further determine the role that ICG-based fluorescence has in identifying sentinel lymph nodes in MCC.