ABSTRACT
Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an uncommon skin tumor with aggressive behavior. Clinically, MCC usually appears as a persistent, asymptomatic, fast-growing red cherry nodule on the leg or face of elderly patients. Because of its unspecific clinical presentation, the differential diagnostic spectrum of MCC is broad, including common malignant tumors (BCC, squamous cell carcinoma, amelanotic melanomas) and benign lesions such as dermatofibroma or hemangioma. Dermoscopically, it might reveal a reddish background with arborizing not-in-focus vessels, a pattern that is rather aspecific. Thus, the final diagnosis is routinely made by histopathologic examination and specific immunohistochemical stainings.
