Long Time Survival in Small Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder: A Case Report

Abstract

Small cell carcinoma of the bladder only accounts for 0,35 – 1% of all bladder cancers. It is a rare, but aggressive tumor. As for other types of bladder cancer, first symptoms are most often painless hematuria [1,2]. The clinical presentation does not differ from other bladder cancers and work-up to diagnosis is mostly identical. Literature regarding small cell bladder cancer is not extensive. Only a few non-randomized prospective trials are available [3-6]. Treatment options are multiple and mainly based on institutional retrospective data. As other anaplastic tumors, small cell bladder cancer has a poor prognosis given the high risk for metastatic disease. Different treatment options have been published over the past several years. With time, two commonly used treatment schedules remain for limited disease: neo-adjuvant chemotherapy in combination with cystectomy and chemo-radiation therapy after initial transurethral resection of the bladder wall. Even at an early stage, no invasion of the muscle tissue, a radical treatment is required because SCC of the bladder has a propensity for early metastasis. In general, SCC of the bladder has a poor prognosis and long-term survival percentages are very low. However, we report the case of a 76-years old woman who was treated nine years ago by neo-adjuvant chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy. A review of the literature on this topic is also presented.