Table of Contents
Definition / general | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) images | Positive stains | Negative stains | Differential diagnosisCite this page: Arora K. Small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/prostatesmallcell.html. Accessed January 22nd, 2021.
Definition / general
- Pure or combined with ordinary ductal adenocarcinoma
- Diagnosis restricted to cases having either pure or mixed with an adenocarcinoma component, where the cells resemble small-cell carcinoma of the lung (and elsewhere) histologically
- Serum PSA levels are often not elevated
- May cause Cushings syndrome, syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion
- Some have endocrine features
- Very aggressive, cannot monitor with PSA (unreliable)
- Survival usually less than 1 year (Arch Pathol Lab Med 1986;110:1041)
- Rarely associated with limbic encephalitis (Mod Pathol 1999;12:814)
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Usually large number of apoptotic cells; otherwise resembles lung small cell carcinoma
- Typical features of small cell carcinoma, including high mitotic rate, frequent apoptotic bodies, crush artifact and DNA encrustation of blood vessel walls (Azzopardi phenomenon) are present
Positive stains
- Chromogranin, NSE, TTF1 (Mod Pathol 2000;13:238), CD56 (Am J Surg Pathol 2008;32:65)
Negative stains
- PSA, PAP (Am J Surg Pathol 2008;32:65)
Differential diagnosis
- Large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma: extremely rare, described in case reports and in one small study; large and polygonal tumor cells with moderate to abundant cytoplasm, coarsely granular nuclear chromatin and prominent nucleoli (Mod Pathol 2006;19:1358)