Small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder

Abstract

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 thataffect several organ systems including respiratory,gastrointestinal and male and female genitourinary tract.SCCUB affect males predominantly with common riskfactors include smoking, bladder calculi, bladdermanipulation, and chronic cystitis. Prognosis of SCCUBremains poor due to high metastatic potential and lack ofsymptoms in earlier stages of the disease. Pathogenesisof the disease is linked to loss of genetic material,hypermethylation of tumor suppressors and at timesamplification of the chromosomal regions carryingoncogenes. Majority of cases are treated with localresection of the tumor with neoadjuvant or adjuvantplatinum-based chemotherapy regimen. Radiationtherapy is used as alternative to radical cystectomy or aspalliative measure. This article provides epidemiology,molecular pathogenesis, histochemistry, and currentmanagement options for SCCUB. Furthermore wereviewed all recent studies involving advancement intargeted molecular therapy for neuroendocrine tumors.