Urogenital Merkel cell carcinoma

PubMed, the Internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an interesting article, entitled “Merkel cell carcinoma – a rarity in the urogenital tract.” (Onkologie. 2006 Jul;29(7):326-8. Epub 2006 Jul 3 ). Authors are Schwindl B, Meissner A, Giedl J еt al., from the Department of Urology, Klinikum Weiden, Germany. Merkel cell carcinoma – a rare, aggressive cancer of the skin integument – is being increasingly diagnosed but represents an absolute rarity in the urogenital tract. The authors report on a 70-year-old man who was referred to them with suspected testicular cancer. The pathology report revealed a metastasized Merkel cell carcinoma. The patient described is considered to be the first to develop testicular metastasis derived from Merkel cell carcinoma. Besides neuroendocrine and epithelial antigen tests, somatostatin receptor scintigraphy is a helpful diagnostic tool. To access the full abstract of the article, click here.