title: Primary small cell carcinoma of the larynx.
abstract: Small cell carcinoma is a rare tumor of the larynx. We present such a case in a 78-year-old female. The histopathological diagnosis at the time of laryngomicroscopic biopsy was squamous cell carcinoma, upon which basis we initially chose surgical treatment. The surgical specimen, however, revealed small cell carcinoma. Despite the administration of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the patient died 9 months after initial presentation. We believe that this case illustrates the need for a sufficiently large biopsy specimen in order to arrive at the correct histopathological diagnosis when small cell carcinoma of the larynx is present, and that immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy should be performed to aid the diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shiotani
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawaura
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sako
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sakaguchi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kusuyama
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawaida
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kanzaki
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D007830:Larynx / Q000473:pathology; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant