Diagnosis and treatment of primary small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder / 中华泌尿外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the clinical and pathological features of small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder. Methods The pathological and clinical data of 9 cases of small cell carcinoma were analyzed retrospectively. There were 6 males and 3 females, ages 45 to 79 years (mean age, 62 years). Clinical manifestations of 7 cases included gross hematuria and dysuria, the other 2 cases experienced lower abdominal pain. The mean tumor size was 2.0 cm (ranged, 0.5 to 7.0 cm). Two cases had multiple tumors and 5 cases had single tumors. The growth pattern in 2 cases was diffuse growth in the whole bladder. In 4 cases tumor cells were found in urine cytology. All 9 patients underwent surgical treatment, including TURBt. Four patients were diagnosed as superficial tumors before operation. All the patients underwent regular theprubicine irrigation in the bladder. One case underwent additional intravenous chemotherapy for 3 cycles. Partial cystectomy was performed in 2 cases, with regular theprubicine irrigation in bladder and 1 case underwent intravenous chemotherapy for 2 cycles. Radical cystectomy was performed in 3 cases, with 2 cases undergoing intravenous chemotherapy after operation. Results Pathological findings showed that tumor cells were small and round in shape. These hyperchromatic nuclei showed limited cytoplasm with lack of nesting characters. CgA and NSE were positive in immunohistochemistry. The final diagnosis was small cell carcinoma, with 1 case accompanied with transitional cell carcinoma and 1 case accompanied with prostate cancer. One case showed high preoperative serum calcium (3.15 mmol/L) and low serum phosphate (0.61 mmol/L), which returned to normal 1 month after operation. Four cases who′s bladder was preserved were followed up, 3 cases were alive for 4, 9 and 25 months after operation. The 1 case who underwent intravenous chemotherapy was followed up for 24 months and there was no sign of relapse or metastasis. In all the 3 cases with radical cystectomy, 2 cases died 2 and 28 months postoperativly. Another case with adjuvant chemotherapy was followed up for 24 months without recurrence or metastasis. Conclusions Small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder is highly malignant with poor prognosis. Radical cystectomy in combination with systemic chemotherapy has better efficacy. Retained bladder surgery with systemic chemotherapy is an alternative choice. The most important factors which influence the prognosis of the tumor are clinical stage and therapeutic methods.