AUTHOR=Tanda Enrica Teresa , d’Amato Agostina Lagodin , Rossi Giovanni , Croce Elena , Boutros Andrea , Cecchi Federica , Spagnolo Francesco , Queirolo Paola 

TITLE=Merkel Cell Carcinoma: An Immunotherapy Fairy-Tale?

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2021.739006

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2021.739006

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC) is a rare, highly aggressive, neuroendocrine cutaneous tumor. The incidence of MCC is growing worldwide and the disease-related mortality is about three-fold higher than melanoma. Since a few years ago very little was known about this disease, and chemotherapy was the standard of care. Nowadays, new discoveries about the pathophysiology of this neoplasm and the introduction of immunotherapy allowed to completely rewrite the history of these patients. In this review, we provide a summary of the most important changes in the management of Merkel Cell Carcinoma, with a focus on immunotherapy, and a landscape of future treatment strategies.