Abstract
BackgroundSmall cell carcinoma of the cervix (SCCC) is a very rare tumor. Due to its rarity and the long time period, there is a paucity of information pertaining to prognostic factors associated with survival. The objective of this study was to determine whether clinicopathologic finings or immunohistochemical presence of molecular markers predictive of clinical outcome in patients with SCCC.Methodology and FindingsWe retrospectively reviewed a total of 293 patients with SCCC (47 patients from Cancer Center of Sun Yat-sen University in china, 71 patients from case report of china journal, 175 patients from case report in PubMed database). Of those 293 patients with SCCC, the median survival time is 23 months. The 3-year overall survival rates (OS) and 3-year disease-free survival rates (DFS) for all patients were 34.5% and 31.1%, respectively. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that FIGO stage (IIb–IV VS I–IIa, Hazard Ratio (HR) = 3.08, 95% confidence interval (CI) of ratio = [2.05, 4.63], P<0.001), tumor mass size (≥4 cm VS <4 cm, HR = 2.37, 95% CI = [1.28, 4.36], P = 0.006) and chromogranin A (CgA) (Positive VS Negative, HR = 1.81, 95% CI = [1.12, 2.91], P = 0.015) were predictive of poor prognosis. CgA stained positive was found to be highly predictive of death in early-stage (FIGO I–IIa) patient specifically.ConclusionsPatients with SCCC have poor prognosis. FIGO stage, tumor mass size and CgA stained positive may act as a surrogate for factors prognostic of survival. CgA may serve as a useful marker in prognostic evaluation for early-stage patients with SCCC.
Highlights
Neuroendocrine small cell cervical carcinoma is an aggressive, but rare form of cervical cancer with an incidence of less than 3% of all cervical cancers [1,2,3]
Federation Internationale Gynecologica Obstetrica (FIGO) stage, tumor mass size and Chromogranin A (CgA) stained positive may act as a surrogate for factors prognostic of survival
CgA may serve as a useful marker in prognostic evaluation for early-stage patients with Small cell carcinoma of the cervix (SCCC)
Summary
Neuroendocrine small cell cervical carcinoma is an aggressive, but rare form of cervical cancer with an incidence of less than 3% of all cervical cancers [1,2,3] These tumors are characterized by a high incidence of early nodal and distant metastases, resulting in poorer prognosis than other subtypes of cervical cancers [4,5,6]. Due to its rarity and the long time period required to enroll a sufficient number of patients, most studies on SCCC are comprised of only small series and case reports, making it difficult to perform a randomized, controlled clinical trial to determine optimal therapy and draw conclusions on overall management.
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