HISTOLOGY AND HISTOPATHOLOGY

Cellular and Molecular Biology

 

Review

Small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder

Mukta Pant-Purohit1, Antonio Lopez-Beltran4, Rodolfo Montironi5, Gregory T. MacLennan6 and Liang Cheng2,3

Departments of 1Hematology and Oncology, Pathology and 2Laboratory Medicine and 3Urology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, 4Department of Pathology, Cordoba University, Cordoba, Spain, 5Institute of Pathological Anatomy and Histopathology, Polytechnic University of the Marche Region (Ancona), United Hospitals, Ancona, Italy and 6Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Offprint requests to: Liang Cheng, M.D., Professor of Pathology and Urology, Director of Molecular Diagnostics Service and Molecular Pathology Laboratory, Chief of Genitourinary Pathology Division, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, 350 West 11th Street, Clarian Pathology Laboratory Room 4010, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. e-mail: liang_cheng@yahoo.com


Summary. Small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder (SCCUB) is a rare and aggressive cancer of the bladder. SCCUB is part of neuroendocrine family of tumors that affect several organ systems including respiratory, gastrointestinal and male and female genitourinary tract. SCCUB affect males predominantly with common risk factors include smoking, bladder calculi, bladder manipulation, and chronic cystitis. Prognosis of SCCUB remains poor due to high metastatic potential and lack of symptoms in earlier stages of the disease. Pathogenesis of the disease is linked to loss of genetic material, hypermethylation of tumor suppressors and at times amplification of the chromosomal regions carrying oncogenes. Majority of cases are treated with local resection of the tumor with neoadjuvant or adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy regimen. Radiation therapy is used as alternative to radical cystectomy or as palliative measure. This article provides epidemiology, molecular pathogenesis, histochemistry, and current management options for SCCUB. Furthermore we reviewed all recent studies involving advancement in targeted molecular therapy for neuroendocrine tumors
. Histol Histopathol 25, 217-221 (2010)

Key words: Urinary bladder, Neoplasms Small cell carcinoma, Molecular genetics, Differential diagnosis, Prognosis 7

DOI: 10.14670/HH-25.217