Treatment Patterns and Survival Outcomes of Head and Neck Merkel Cell Carcinoma: An Age-Stratified Analysis.

IF 2.2 3区医学 Q1 OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY

Head and Neck-Journal for the Sciences and Specialties of the Head and Neck Pub Date : 2026-10-02 DOI:10.1002/hed.70496

Igor Vainer, Lior Strinkovsky, Eyal Fenig, Gideon Bachar

{"title":"Treatment Patterns and Survival Outcomes of Head and Neck Merkel Cell Carcinoma: An Age-Stratified Analysis.","authors":"Igor Vainer, Lior Strinkovsky, Eyal Fenig, Gideon Bachar","doi":"10.1002/hed.70496","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Background: H&N Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) mainly affects elderly patients, yet age-stratified treatment patterns and outcomes data are scarce.Methods: We analyzed 88 consecutive H&N MCC patients (2000-2022) by age (< 75 vs. ≥ 75 years). OS was estimated by Kaplan-Meier analysis and MCC-specific death with competing-risks methods (cause-specific Cox regression).Results: Of 88 patients, 57% were ≥ 75 years; older patients underwent less surgery but received RT at similar rates. Age ≥ 75 dominated OS (5-year 23% vs. 71%; adjusted HR 3.24). The 5-year cumulative incidence of MCC-specific death was higher in older patients (42% vs. 23%) but was not independent after adjustment (cause-specific HR 2.02, p = 0.10); competing non-MCC mortality was far higher (31% vs. 6%). Six of 11 ICI-treated patients (55%) were alive at 1.9 years.Conclusions: Elderly patients undergo less surgery yet receive equivalent RT. Age dominates overall survival, but this mainly reflects competing non-MCC mortality rather than a cancer-specific effect; age-tailored, competing-risk-aware protocols are needed.","PeriodicalId":55072,"journal":{"name":"Head and Neck-Journal for the Sciences and Specialties of the Head and Neck","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2026-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Head and Neck-Journal for the Sciences and Specialties of the Head and Neck","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1002/hed.70496","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: H&N Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) mainly affects elderly patients, yet age-stratified treatment patterns and outcomes data are scarce.

Methods: We analyzed 88 consecutive H&N MCC patients (2000-2022) by age (< 75 vs. ≥ 75 years). OS was estimated by Kaplan-Meier analysis and MCC-specific death with competing-risks methods (cause-specific Cox regression).

Results: Of 88 patients, 57% were ≥ 75 years; older patients underwent less surgery but received RT at similar rates. Age ≥ 75 dominated OS (5-year 23% vs. 71%; adjusted HR 3.24). The 5-year cumulative incidence of MCC-specific death was higher in older patients (42% vs. 23%) but was not independent after adjustment (cause-specific HR 2.02, p = 0.10); competing non-MCC mortality was far higher (31% vs. 6%). Six of 11 ICI-treated patients (55%) were alive at 1.9 years.

Conclusions: Elderly patients undergo less surgery yet receive equivalent RT. Age dominates overall survival, but this mainly reflects competing non-MCC mortality rather than a cancer-specific effect; age-tailored, competing-risk-aware protocols are needed.

查看原文本刊更多论文

头颈部默克尔细胞癌的治疗模式和生存结果：年龄分层分析。

背景：H&N默克尔细胞癌（MCC）主要影响老年患者，但年龄分层的治疗模式和结果数据很少。方法：我们按年龄对88例H&N MCC患者（2000-2022）进行了分析(结果：88例患者中，57%的患者年龄≥75岁；老年患者手术较少，但接受RT的比例相似。年龄≥75岁的OS占主导地位（5年23%比71%；调整后HR 3.24）。老年患者的5年累积mcc特异性死亡发生率较高（42% vs. 23%），但调整后不是独立的（病因特异性HR 2.02, p = 0.10）；非mcc的竞争性死亡率要高得多（31%对6%）。11例接受ici治疗的患者中有6例（55%）存活至1.9年。结论：老年患者接受较少的手术，但接受相同的放疗。年龄决定了总生存率，但这主要反映了非mcc死亡率的竞争，而不是癌症特异性的影响；我们需要针对年龄的、具有竞争风险意识的协议。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Head and Neck-Journal for the Sciences and Specialties of the Head and Neck 医学-耳鼻喉科学

CiteScore

7.00

自引率

6.90%

发文量

278

审稿时长

1.6 months

期刊介绍： Head & Neck is an international multidisciplinary publication of original contributions concerning the diagnosis and management of diseases of the head and neck. This area involves the overlapping interests and expertise of several surgical and medical specialties, including general surgery, neurosurgery, otolaryngology, plastic surgery, oral surgery, dermatology, ophthalmology, pathology, radiotherapy, medical oncology, and the corresponding basic sciences.