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Oral etoposide in Merkel cell carcinoma
  1. Tatiana Betancor1,
  2. Maria Micaela Viña1,
  3. Sara Ramos1,
  4. Miguel Angel Cabrera2,
  5. Francisco Javier Merino1
  1. 1 Pharmacy Department, University Hospital Nuestra Señora de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
  2. 2 Oncology Department, University Hospital Nuestra Señora de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
  1. Correspondence to Miss Tatiana Betancor, Pharmacy department, Universitary Hospital Nuestra Seora de Candelaria, Santa Cruz 38010, Spain; tbetgarg{at}gmail.com

Abstract

Background Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a very infrequent and aggressive skin tumor with high recurrence and metastasis rates. MCC treatment is currently not well defined.

Case presentation We present the case of a 75-year-old woman who was diagnosed with MCC in 2010 and suffered a third relapse in 2012 which could not be treated surgically.

Results The patient began oral etoposide treatment reaching complete response after eight cycles and receiving a total of 11 cycles. As side effects, the patient suffered from neutropenia, candidiasis and mucositis, but after reducing the dosage to 50% it was well tolerated.

Discussion Chemotherapy treatment in this setting is poorly defined. In this case, monotherapy treatment with oral etoposide was decided due to the patient’s age and comorbidities, achieving a very positive outcome.

  • chemotheraphy
  • etoposide
  • merkel cell carcinoma
  • skin carcinoma
  • bibliographic research

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