Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare aggressive skin cancer with the mortality rate of 33%.
MCC was first described by Toker in 1972 as a trabecular cell carcinoma and is classified as aneuroendocrine tumor similar to small cell lung carcinoma and melanoma. The pathogenesisof MCC remains largely unknown. However, ultraviolet radiation and immunosuppression arelikely to play a significant pathogenic role. The primary skin lesion is usually asymptomaticand it typically presents as a red or purple dome-shaped nodule. The management of MCC iscontroversial, however, local wide excision followed by radiotherapy is accepted as the primarytreatment modality. The regional draining nodal basin is the most common site for recurrence.
Therefore, sentinel lymph node biopsy is recommended in all cases, except for the clinicallynode-negative cases. We herein report two cases of MCC on the left cheek with differentclinical manifestations.