Gastric small cell carcinoma with marked response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Abstract

We report a patient with gastric small cell carcinoma (SCC) who showed a marked response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The patient was a 72-year-old Japanese man who was admitted because of epigastralgia. Subsequent examination revealed the presence of advanced gastric carcinoma in the lesser curvature of the lower body of the stomach, with multiple abdominal lymph node metastases. Endoscopic biopsy specimens from the tumor revealed SCC with moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma. The patient received neoadjuvant chemotherapy consisting of carboplatin (400 mg/m2, for 1 day), epirubicin (27 mg/m2, for 1 day), etoposide (70 mg/m2, for 3 days), and 5-fluorouracil (330 mg/m2, for 11 days). Clinically, the primary tumor and lymph node metastases were markedly reduced. Subsequently the patient underwent curative surgery and was alive without recurrence for more than 3 years after the surgery.

Gastric Small Cell Carcinoma That Showed Complete Response to Irinotecan+Cisplatin Chemotherapy Treatment –A Case Report–

“…On the other hand, in unresectable cases, chemotherapy showed efficacy for GSCC 3,12,13,14,15) . Among the various regimens of chemotherapy reported, cisplatin has been frequently mentioned in the literature 2,3,9,10,11,12,14,15,16) .…”

Extrapulmonary Small Cell Carcinoma of the Stomach: A Lethal Entity

“…Since extrapulmonary small cell carcinoma is very aggressive, some authors recommend that it be treated similarly to pulmonary small cell carcinoma [123, 7, 9, 11, 14]. Preoperative chemotherapy has been used and is recommended by someone [9, 15]. Intensive chemotherapy in postsurgical resection patients has also been recommended [1, 14].…”

Unusual Case of Small Cell Gastric Carcinoma: Case Report and Literature Review

“…Given the frequency with which SCGCs present as mixed cell types [6,7,11,20,22,27,28,35,36,39], it is not surprising that SCGC looks endoscopically similar to other gastric cancers. The macroscopic appearance has been described as fungating and ulcerating, similar to the more common gastric adenocarcinoma [7].…”

“…SCGC has been treated with regimens concocted for other more common NETs like esophageal small cell carcinoma and SCLC [30]. Several authors have put together reviews comparing different regimens of chemotherapy [6,18,26,28,29], the details of which are beyond the scope of this review. No conclusions could be made regarding which regimen is most effective since patient numbers are lacking [6] but there have been reports of complete clinical remission with SCLC chemotherapeutic regimens [30] (although this patient relapsed 11 months later).…”