Merkel cell carcinoma: literature review and case report

Background: Merkel cells carcinoma (MCC) is a rare primary skin neoplasm, although is very aggressive. Macroscopically it may be difficult to differentiate from other small cell malignancies, particularly from the oat cell carcinoma of the lung. Because of this the mainstay to diagnosis MCC includes the use of immunohistochemistry. Case presentation: A 89 year old woman with a history of a 6 month nodular, painless, progressive growth mass on her left elbow. She was seen several times in her health care service, receiving treatment with topical antibiotics without any improvement. Conclusions: The use of adequate pathological analysis and immunohistochemical markers, can achieve a more accurate diagnosis from a suggestive clinic, and thus carry out a suitable and early treatment.