How long does radiotherapy take to work for Merkel cell carcinoma?

The course is tailored to the skin lesion, nearby tissues, lymph nodes, and whether surgery or medicines are also part of care. The treated area can become red, tender, dry, or moist as radiation affects both tumour cells and normal skin. These changes may appear during treatment or shortly afterwards and do not automatically mean the cancer is growing. The lesion may flatten or heal gradually. Your clinician examines the skin and any nearby lymph-node areas and may arrange imaging or other tests when needed. Follow-up is therefore based on the whole pattern, not on the appearance of the skin on one day.

Wash and protect the area only as instructed, avoid rubbing or unapproved creams, and tell the team about broken skin, drainage, increasing tenderness, or a new lump. Keep your review appointment even if the lesion looks better. Ask when the response examination will occur and how surgery or medicines fit with radiation. Read the treatment overview at [Radiotherapy](/treatments/radiation-oncology/radiotherapy/).

Contact the treatment team promptly if redness spreads quickly, pain becomes severe, the skin opens widely, drainage develops, or you develop fever. Seek urgent help for facial swelling with breathing difficulty, fainting, confusion, or sudden severe weakness. Early assessment can distinguish expected skin irritation from infection or another problem.

Ask what change would count as a response, when the treated skin should be examined, how to dress or moisturise it, which new skin findings need a call, and when nearby lymph nodes will be reviewed.