Small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder without gross hematuria: a case report

Abstract

Small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder (SCCB) is a rare and aggressive form of bladder cancer with poor prognosis. Hematuria is the main symptom of this malignancy, and most patients have a history of smoking. The disease incidence of malignant bladder tumors in China is approximately 0.74%. Early and accurate diagnosis of SCCB can ensure timely and appropriate treatment of this malignant disease. Oncologic surgery is the standard treatment; however, it may not be a curative approach. Chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy should be performed following surgical removal. This case report describes a patient with a single neoplasm diagnosed as SCCB that arose because of recurrence of bladder cancer after bladder tumor resection. In contrast to previously reported cases, this patient had no gross hematuria and no history of smoking.

Keywords

carcinoma / small cell / urinary bladder neoplasms / diagnosis

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Compliance with ethics guidelines

Wanqiu Huang, Yang Luan, Lu Jin, Tao Wang, Ruibao Chen, Zheng Liu, Zhiqiang Chen, and Ruzhu Lan declare that no conflicts of interest exist. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Informed consent was obtained from the patient. Additional informed consent was obtained from all patients whose identifying information was included in this article.

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg