Abstract
Two Taiwanese patients with gallbladder small cell carcinoma are reported. One is a 79 year-old male, the other, a 86 year-old female. They both presented with the symptom/signs of acute cholecystitis and underwent cholecystectomy. An intramural mass in the gallbladder neck region was found in the first patient, while the second patient had a transmural indurated tumor in the gallbladder body with extension to the neck region. Characteristic histological and immunohistochemical features of small cell carcinoma were present in both, and electron dense neurosecretory granules were identified in the second. To our knowledge, the second patient is the oldest ever reported. The first patient received chemotherapy directed toward the initial erroneous diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and developed liver metastasis in two months. The second patient did not receive chemotherapy due to her poor general condition and local recurrence occurred in six weeks. Both passed away three and five months after surgery, respectively.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Tahara E: Endocrine tumors of the gastrointestinal tract: classification, function and biological behavior. Digest Dis Pathol 1:121–47, 1988.
Yamamoto M, Nakajo S, Miyoshi N, et al: Endocrine cell carcinoma (carcinoid) of the gallbladder. Am J Surg Pathol 13:292–302,1989.
Ron IG, Wigler N,Ilie B, et al: Small cell carcinoma of the gallbladder: clinical course and response to chemotherapy. Tumori 78:207–210, 1992.
Albores-Saavedra J, Molberg K, Henson DE: Unusual malignant epithelial tumors of the gallbladder. Semin Diagno Pathol. 13:326–338, 1996.
Nishigami T, Yamada M, Nakasho K, et al: Carcinoid tumor of the gall bladder. Int Med 35:953–956, 1996.
Cavazzana AO, Fassina AS, Tollot M, et al: Small-cell carcinoma of the gallbladder: An immunocytochemical and ultrastructural study. Pathol Res Pract 187:472–476, 1991.
Nishihara K, Nagai E, Tsuneyoshi M, et al: Small cell carcinoma combined with adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 118:177–181, 1994.
Muraina UI, Tank R, Dhingra C, et al: Small cell carcinoma of gallbladder: report of two cases. Am J Gastroenterol 91:792–794, 1996.
Albores-Saavedra J, Cruz-Ortiz H, Alcantara-Yazques A, et al: Unusual types of gallbladder carcinoma. Arch Pathol Lab Med 105:287–293, 1981.
Cavazzana AO, Fassina AS, Tollot M, et al: Small cell carcinoma of gallbladder. An ímmunohistochemical and ultrastructur-al study.Path Res Pract 187:472–476, 1991.
Cox WF Jr.,Pierce GB: The endodermal origin of the endocrine cell of an adenocarcinoma of the colon of the rat. Cancer 50: 1530–1538, 1982.
Nash SV, Said JW: Gastropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. A histochemical and immunohistochemical study of epithelial (keratin proteins, carcinoembryonic antigen) and neuroendocrine (neuron specific enolase, bombesin and chromogranin) markers in foregut, midgut and hindgut tumors. Am J Clin Pathol 86:415–22, 1986.
Mosnier JF, Brousse N, Sevestre C, et al: Primary low-grade B-cell lymphoma of the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue arising in the gallbladder. Histopathology 1992; 20:273–275, 1992.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chuang, SS., Lin, CN., Chu, CH. et al. Small cell carcinoma of the gallbladder: Report of two cases. Pathol. Oncol. Res. 5, 235–238 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1053/paor.1999.0216
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1053/paor.1999.0216