Small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder: a case report and review of the literature

Abstract

Small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder is extremely rare. In this report, a case of non-metastatic small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder treated by systemic chemotherapy followed by adjuvant external radiotherapy, with a brief review of the epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis, pathological features, staging, treatment and prognosis about this neoplasm is reported. A 53 years old man attended with sign and symptoms suggestive of a bladder cancer. Computed tomography of the whole abdomen showed a large tumour at right lateral wall of the bladder. Transurethral resection and histopathological study of the bladder tumour established the diagnosis of a small cell carcinoma. The patient received six cycles of platinum based chemotherapy with adjuvant locoregional external radiotherapy. He had an invasive bladder recurrence thirteen months later and died shortly afterwards.