Hi
I've just been diagnosed with secondary cancer, a rare and aggressive skin cancer Merkel cell carcinoma in my groin lymph nodes. I'm now waiting for a PET SCAN. I have Bowen's Disease and have had cryotherapy and surgery to remove lesions but as far as I know I have never had MERKEL CELL CARCINOMA as it's not something you would miss. Thursday I had a top to toe skin examination and have no more areas of concern. Has anyone else had a Secondary cancer and not known that they had a Primary ?
I'm really scared and worried now and the waiting for a scan then the results is going to be unbearable. There isn't a Merkel cell carcinoma group on here 
Hi TMO
It must have been a shock to be told that you have been diagnosed with Merkel cell carcinoma in your lymph nodes.
Being diagnosed with a secondary cancer when the primary can't be found does happen reasonably often. I'm a member of the melanoma group and I know quiet a few people there who have had melanoma found in lymph nodes when there was no obvious sign of it on the skin. I know that one thought is that the body's immune system has dealt with the skin lesion but not been able to deal with the secondary spread.
Although there isn't a separate group for Merkel cell carcinoma you will find a number of posters in the skin cancer group who have been living with it for some time. You might want to start a new post there and I'll keep an eye on it to see if you get replies. If not, I'll tag the more recent MCC posters to alert them.
Another group you could join, although it's not very active, is the unknown primary cancer group which covers any type of cancer where the original hasn't been found. Because Merkel cells are a type of neuroendocrine cell you will also find a few people with MCC in the neuroendocrine cancer group.
If you wanted to join these additional groups clicking on the links I've created will take you straight there.
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