Clinical characteristics and survival of patients with advanced Merkel cell carcinoma treated with avelumab: analysis of a prospective German Merkel cell carcinoma registry
Background: Defining resection margins for basal cell carcinomas (BCC), particularly infiltrative types, is clinically challenging.Mohs surgery provides precise control of margins but requires the establishment of a very challenging hospital organization, which is often hindered by logistical barriers.Non-invasive imaging technologies, such as Linear Confocal Optical Coherence Tomography (LC-OCT), offer an alternative, but their lack of dermoscopic co-localization limits precision.This study examines the integration of LC-OCT co-localized with dermoscopy, supported by artificial intelligence (AI), to enhance margin delineation for BCCs.Methods: The study analyzed 8 patients with 12 BCCs: 7 infiltrative facial BCCs, 1 recurrent temple BCC, 1 micronodular nasal tip BCC, 2 nodular BCCs on the upper lip and 1 nodular BCC on the right thigh.Plastic surgeons requested margin delineation for 3 tumors, while dermatologists initiated it for the others.A clinical margin was drawn using a dermo pen.The margin delineation was controlled through the co-localization of LC-OCT and dermoscopy, enhanced by artificial intelligence.Video recordings of all 12 scans were completed for documentation.Results: A perfect correlation between LC-OCT imaging and histopathology was observed in all cases.Delineation times ranged from 10 to 45 minutes per patient, depending on the anatomical complexity and the number of scans required.This approach enhanced margin precision and provided robust medico-legal documentation Figure 1
Authors
- Rudolf Alexander Herbst (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4238-9486)
- Christoffer Gebhardt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7090-9584)
- Peter Möhr (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9639-6545)
- Claudia Pföhler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0384-114X)
- Patrice Verpillat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0010-1699)
- Dirk Schadendorf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3524-7858)
- Emmanuelle Boutmy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9657-9376)
- Friedegund Meier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4340-9706)
- Stephan Grabbe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6863-8719)
- Fabian Ziller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2519-1312)
- Martin Sachse (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5981-9166)
- Selma Ugurel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9384-6704)
- Jürgen Becker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8183-9486)
- Margarita Shlaen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4238-1759)
- Lisa Zimmer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3680-3521)
- Changbo Fu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5895-7823)
- Seyed Hamidreza Mahmoudpour (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5575-4238)
- Anthony F. Milano
- Ulrike Leiter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8019-1577)
- Steven J. Hoff (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3067-4471)
Institutions
- Universität Hamburg (DE)
- Merck KGaA, Darmstadt (Germany) (DE)
- German Cancer Research Center (DE)
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- Institut für Qualität im Management (Germany) (DE)
- University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- Beijing Enterprises (China) (CN)
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (DE)
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (DE)
- Essen University Hospital (DE)
- Elbe Kliniken Stade-Buxtehude (DE)
- Klinikum Bremerhaven-Reinkenheide (DE)
- Helios Klinikum Erfurt (DE)
- University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus (DE)
- Klinikum Chemnitz (DE)
- Deutsches Konsortium für Translationale Krebsforschung (DE)
- University of Duisburg-Essen (DE)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- Saarland University (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- EJC Skin Cancer
- Published
- 2025-01-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejcskn.2025.100652
- Primary Topic
- Polyomavirus and related diseases
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00