Extremely rare and fulminant case of small cell carcinoma of submandibular salivary gland

Abstract

Small cell carcinomas (SmCCs) usually have a pulmonary origin. Extrapulmonary sites such as salivary glands of head and neck are extremely rare, posing a diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma for treating oncologists due to its location, vast array of differential diagnosis, and very few reported cases without any definite therapeutic guidelines. We report an exceedingly uncommon case of SmCC of submandibular salivary gland in a 29-year-old male presenting with right-sided neck swelling, underwent surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy (RT). However, within 3 weeks, he presented with frontal, ethmoidal, and intracranial tumor extension and bone and lung metastasis, for which he received palliative RT and chemotherapy. However, he was unable to tolerate the treatment and finally succumbed to this fulminant illness. A thorough review of literature reveals that our case is to be listed as the tenth and also the most fulminant case of this pathology that have ever been reported in world literature till date.