Published in:
01-12-2020 | Prostate Cancer | Case report
Small cell carcinoma of the prostate after low-dose-rate brachytherapy: a case report
Published in: Journal of Medical Case Reports | Issue 1/2020
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Background
Small cell carcinoma of the prostate is a rare condition with important differences from prostatic adenocarcinoma in terms of clinical and prognostic characteristics. A low prostate-specific antigen and a symptomatic patient, including paraneoplastic symptoms, characterize small cell carcinoma of the prostate. Diagnosis is made on the basis of prostate biopsy, and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography is often used for staging because up to 60% of patients present with de novo metastatic disease. Patients with metastatic disease are usually treated with platinum-based cytotoxic chemotherapy regimens similar to those used for small cell carcinoma of the lung. However, prognosis remains poor, with a median overall survival of 9 to 17 months despite therapy.
Case presentation
This report describes a case of an 80-year-old Caucasian patient with lymph node and bone metastatic small cell carcinoma of the prostate following low-dose-rate brachytherapy for a low-risk prostate carcinoma and treated with chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
Conclusion
Low-dose-rate brachytherapy might be an etiology of small cell prostate cancer.