Treatment Resistant Small Cell Carcinoma of the Cervix

BACKGROUND: Small cell undifferentiated carcinoma of the cervix is an uncommon malignancy with a poor prognosis. Treatment of localized disease has an approximate 40% 5-year survival with multimodality therapies. CASE REPORT: We describe the case of a 24-year-old woman with small cell carcinoma of the cervix that recurred locally despite intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Hysterectomy was performed and the patient is now 18 months disease free. Following treatment, the pathological appearance of the tumor had changed from a typical small cell neuroendocrine malignancy to a more intermediate neuroendocrine cell type. CONCLUSION: Small cell carcinoma of the cervix is a rare aggressive malignancy that may require cytostatic multimodality therapy including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, even in early stage disease.