News & Publications

Background: Clinical benefit from programmed cell death 1 receptor (PD-1) inhibitors relies on reinvigoration of endogenous antitumor immunity. Nonetheless, robust immunological markers, based on circulating immune cell subsets associated with therapeutic efficacy are yet to be validated. Methods: W...

Importance: Merkel cell carcinoma is an aggressive, cutaneous, neuroendocrine cancer that is increasing in incidence. Understanding why the incidence of Merkel cell carcinoma is increasing through underlying factors, such as age effects, calendar period of diagnosis effects, and birth cohort effects...

This team from Yale used data from 3500 patients in the National Cancer DataBase to reveal that MCC care at major academic centers with skin cancer expertise both followed cancer guidelines more closely and was associated with a 30% decrease in the chance of death as compared to MCC patients who wer...

The STAMP trial is currently recruiting participants at sites all across the country. This phase III trial studies how well pembrolizumab works compared to standard of care observation in treating patients with stage I-III Merkel cell cancer that has been completely removed by surgery (resect...

Aim: To evaluate changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a Phase II trial (NCT02155647) of treatment-naive patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma treated with avelumab (15-month follow-up). Materials & methods: Mixed-effect Models for Repeated Measures were applied to HRQo...

We are very excited to announce that this year we held our first ever online Merkel CELLebration in lieu of our annual Merkel Dinner. The event took place on Zoom on Monday, September 14, 2020 from 3-5 PM PDT. The event included a presentation of new research and clinical developments in MCC, as ...

Nghiem Lab research team demonstrates effectiveness of Single fraction adjuvant radiation therapy for treating patients with Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). The team, consisting of investigators from UW Divisions of Dermatology and Medical Oncology and the Departments of Radiation Oncology Radiology, ...

Purpose: Conventionally fractionated, postoperative radiation therapy (cPORT; 50 Gy in 25 fractions) is considered for patients with Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) to improve locoregional control. However, cPORT is associated with acute toxicity, especially in the head and neck (H&N) region, and r...

BACKGROUND: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) guidelines derive from melanoma and do not recommend baseline cross-sectional imaging for most patients. However, MCC is more likely to have metastasized at diagnosis than melanoma. OBJECTIVE: To determine how often baseline imaging identifies clinically occul...

For years, we have been encouraging patients to increase their amount of physical activity as an important part of their care plan. Here is a new study indicating that walking or other exercise actually lowers the chance of death from cancer, in addition to well-known benefits such as improving slee...