Merkel cell carcinoma, or MCC, is a rare and aggressive type of skin cancer with about 1,500 new cases being diagnosed in the U.S. each year. Being a fast-growing cancer, one of the hardest questions for which most MCC patients will seek an answer is "How long do I have?" Though it is very difficult to give a definitive answer to this query, a routine blood test may help predict survival in patients with MCC, suggest Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers.
According to the researchers, the number of lymphocytes - a type of white blood cell that participates in immune function, provides patients with some information about how long they may have left.
Though a patient's absolute lymphocyte count, also known as ALC, is checked by doctors as part of a standard blood count, they typically don't know how to interpret those particular results. But Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers have now found that ALC may be associated with survival because it is a marker of overall immune health.
Matthew Johnson, a resident physician in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Fox Chase and his colleagues after reviewing medical records of 64 patients treated for Merkel cell carcinoma between 1992 and 2010 at Fox Chase found that patients with merkel cell carcinoma who had low numbers of lymphocyte didn't live as long after treatment as those with higher lymphocyte counts.
Half of the patients whose absolute lymphocyte count was below the cutoff (1500 cells per cubic millimeter of blood, or 1.5 k/mm3), survived only 25 months or less after surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation. In contrast, among those with ALCs in the normal range, half lived close to 100 months or more following treatment. In addition, patients with higher ALCs also had a longer disease-free survival, say the researchers.
Johnson noted, "Since checking a patient's ALC is already routine, it would be "reasonable, based on our conclusions," for a patient to ask his or her doctor for the results of that test."
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.