The Research Progress On Small Cell Carcinoma Of The Prostate

Similar to small cell carcinoma of the lung on the histology, small cell carcinoma of the prostate(SCCP) is a kind of prostatic neuroendocrine tumour, which is highly malignant. A lot of patients get high-grade adenocarcinoma which transforms to small cell carcinoma after the androgen deprivation treatment. The mutations of ERG gene, ETS gene and P53 can be observed in both components of these mixed tumours, indicating that prostatic adenocarcinoma and small cell carcinoma have the same origin. SCCP is very rare in clinic. The pathological result of biopsy can be used as a basis for diagnosis. The immunophenotypic can help to make a further diagnosis and differential diagnosis. Clinical features of SCCP include rapid progression of the disease, visceral metastases in early time, high-risk lytic bone lesions and low PSA levels which don't correlate with the disease. At present, there is no satisfactory treatment. Although the mixed small cell carcinoma with adenocarcinoma may benefit from hormonal therapy, it has no effect to the pure SCCP. The prostatectomy should be given to the early stage of SCCP, and then adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy should be considered after prostatectomy. It is likely to improve the life quality of the patients. But when most patients are diagnosed, they are often already in an advanced disease stage. At this time, the cisplatin-based chemotherapy is recommended for the main therapy and a comprehensive treatment including local radiotherapy, hormonal therapy and palliative resection of the prostate should be given to improve the efficacy, but the remission is short and the overall prognosis is poor.