Primary genitourinary small cell carcinoma: Clinicopathologic and survival outcomes from SEER database.

Abstract

200 Background: Small cell carcinoma of genitourinary system (SCC) is a highly aggressive and rare entity. The aim of the study is to characterize the clinicopathologic characteristics and evaluate the treatment outcomes of SCC in adult patients. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 732 patents diagnosed with small cell carcinoma of bladder from 1973 to 2007 was done via SEER database. Demographics, stage, type of treatment received and cancer-specific mortality were examined. Results: 732 patients were identified with SCC of genitourinary tract of which 341 were small cell bladder cancer, 336 were small cell prostate cancer and 55 were small cell renal cancer. Of these 644 patients were males and 88 were females. Median age of diagnosis is 73 years for bladder, 72 years for prostate and 70 years for renal cancer. Majority of the patients were Caucasians (89%) followed by African Americans (6%) and other races (4.98%). Grading of the tumor revealed that 12 patients had well differentiated tumor, 18 patients had moderately differentiated tumor, 191 patients had poorly differentiated, 292 patients had undifferentiated tumor and 219 patients had unknown grade. Pathological T-stages were as follows: T1= 34 (4.6%), T2= 102 (14%), T3= 43 (9%), T4= 41 (5.6%), 38.4% unknown T stage and 67 (9%) patients had metastatic disease. In majority of the patients the treatment received was unknown (565), 90 patients received external beam radiation, and 76 patients received surgery. Cancer-specific mortality was 54% in bladder cancer, 71% in prostate cancer and 78.6% in renal cancer. Median overall survival for all stages was 15.8 months in bladder cancer, 11.3 months in prostate cancer and 8 months in renal cancer. Conclusions: Results show that SCC is a highly aggressive tumor with poor prognosis. Clinical trials involving multiple institutes are needed to accrue enough patients so that treatment paradigms for this uncommon disease can be developed. No significant financial relationships to disclose.