Small cell carcinoma of the cervix: a clinical study of 15 patients and review of the literature.
Objective: Small cell carcinoma of the cervix is a very rare and aggressive tumor. Most gynecologic oncology centers have little experience with this tumor. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the University of Kansas' experience with this tumor and compare findings with those found in current literature.Methods: Fifteen patients with small cell carcinoma of the cervix were treated at or in association with Kansas University Medical Center between 1977 and 1997. Clinical data including age of patient, pregnancy history, stage of tumor, recurrence, type of therapy, presenting symptoms, location of metastases, and overall survival were studied.Results: Age at diagnosis ranged from 20 to 83 years with a mean of 47. Two patients were nulliparous, 2 were primiparous, and 11 were multiparous. Five patients (33%) were stage I, 3 (20%) were stage II, 1 (7%) was stage III, and 6 (40%) were stage IV at diagnosis. Four patients (27%) had progressive courses without good response to treatment, 7 (47%) recurred at an average of 15 months. The patients were treated with surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or a combination thereof. Extrapelvic metastases developed in 5 of 8 patients with stage I or stage II disease with distant nodes, liver, lung, and brain being common sites. Three patients (20%) developed brain metastases. Tumor lysis syndrome was encountered in one patient. One patient was alive and well 80 months after diagnosis and one patient was lost to follow-up. The remaining 13 died of their disease. Mean survival was 22.3 months for stage Ib, 40 months for stage II, 27 months for stage IIb, 8 months for stage III, and 19.2 months for stage IV.Conclusions: Small cell carcinoma of the cervix is a rare and aggressive variant of cervical cancer. Our experience with this tumor raises the question of increased incidence of central nervous system metastases with small cell carcinoma. Present therapy has not significantly improved outcome with this tumor. There is conflicting evidence regarding the etiologic role of an infectious agent. Tumor lysis syndrome is a possible risk when treating these patients.
Weed
JC
Professor of Gynecologic Oncology, University of Kansas, School of Medicine, USA
Shoup
B
Tawfik
O