title: [Small cell carcinoma of the bladder. Report of 3 cases and review of the literature].
abstract: Primary small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder is a highly aggressive disease and accounts for less than 0.5% of all primary bladder tumors. Quite often, clinical presentation is related to local and/or systemic involvement of the disease. Histogenesis is still unknown, but investigators consider the tumor originating from a multipotent undifferentiated stem cell of the bladder urothelium. Hematuria is the first and most frequent symptom that patients complain at the clinical presentation of the disease. The primary local tumor is treated by radical surgery or radiation therapy, while systemic involvement requires polychemotherapy according to the M-VAC protocol. Prognosis is worse and related to the pathological stage of the disease and to chemotherapy reply. Herein we report on 3 cases of primary small cell carcinoma of the urinary biadder. We also review and update the literature concerning this topic.
authors.affiliation: Cattedra e Divisione Clinicizzata di Urologia, Ospedale Policlinico, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio Benito
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Porcaro
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Amico
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martignoni
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brunelli
authors.forename: Pierpaolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Curti
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Novella
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ficarra
authors.forename: Stefano Zecchini
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Antoniolli
authors.forename: Gianni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Malossini
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*