Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jun 16, 2022; 10(17): 5884-5892
Published online Jun 16, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i17.5884
Primary renal small cell carcinoma: A case report
Kun Xie, Xi-Ya Li, Bang-Jie Liao, Si-Cheng Wu, Wei-Min Chen
Kun Xie, Xi-Ya Li, Bang-Jie Liao, Si-Cheng Wu, Wei-Min Chen, Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330036, Jiangxi Province, China
Author contributions: Wu SC and Xie K contributed equally to this work; Wu SC, Li XY, Liao BJ, Xie K and Chen WM designed the research study; Wu SC, Li XY, Xie K and Liao BJ performed the research; Wu SC and Xie K contributed new reagents and analytic tools; Li XY, Xie K and Liao BJ analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest statement.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Wei-Min Chen, Doctor, Chief Doctor, Doctor, Surgeon, Surgical Oncologist, Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, No. 17 Yongwai Zhengjie, Nanchang 330036, Jiangxi Province, China. cwmncdxyfy@126.com
Received: December 31, 2021
Peer-review started: December 31, 2021
First decision: February 21, 2022
Revised: March 15, 2022
Accepted: April 4, 2022
Article in press: April 4, 2022
Published online: June 16, 2022
Processing time: 160 Days and 4.4 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Small cell carcinoma (SCC) is a malignant tumour that is frequently accompanied by extensive metastasis. Primary renal SCC has typical characteristics related to SCC and is extremely rare, with no uniform treatment standard. Clinical treatment is mainly based on the literature. Here we report the diagnosis and treatment of an interesting case of primary renal SCC.

CASE SUMMARY

We report a tortuous course of treatment for a 68-year-old man. Four years before diagnosis, the patient developed continuous gross haematuria, during which he underwent several ureteral biopsies, ureteral stricture relief, and urine exfoliated cell examinations; however, SCC was not confirmed. One month before radical resection of the renal pelvic carcinoma, the severe haematuria recurred. Computed tomography revealed transitional cell carcinoma in the right kidney and right upper ureter. A preoperative examination exluded the possibility of a pulmonary origin of the tumour, and primary renal SCC was diagnosed. The postoperative pathology findings were suggestive of SCC. The patient was treated with combined chemotherapy but died of tumour progression at 7 mo postoperative.

CONCLUSION

Our patient's disease onset in the context of a succession of regular testing and the fact that it occurred so quickly with perirenal encroachment immediately after diagnosis reveals the cruel and unforgiving side of the disease. Furthermore, patients with poor comprehensive treatment results require new treatment regimens.

Keywords: Kidney; Small cell carcinoma; Clinical features; Diagnosis; Treatment; Case report

Core Tip: Our patient's onset in the context of a succession of regular testing, and the fact that it occurred so quickly, with perirenal encroachment immediately after diagnosis, reveals the cruel and cunning side of the disease. Futhermore, patients with poor comprehensive treatment results, proving the need to develop new treatment regimens.