Primary small cell carcinoma of the pancreas: rare type of pancreatic cancer and review of the literatures

BACKGROUND: Primary small cell carcinoma of the pancreas (SCCP) is a rare malignancy with an extremely poor prognosis which accounts for 1 to 1.4 percent of all pancreatic malignancies. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 62-year-old man with a half-month history of upper abdominal discomfort who was diagnosed with SCC of the pancreatic tail. A Chest X-ray showed no evidence of primary lung tumor. The diagnosis of a SCCP was confirmed by post-surgery pathology and immunohistology. In our review of the published reports of SCCP, we only found a few cases reported in the literatures. The diagnosis of SCCP needs the post-surgery pathology and immunohistology and the prognosis of SCCP is extremely poor. There was a significant increase in median survival, from 1 to 6 months, in treated patients compared to patients treated only by symptomatic management. Chemotherapy was the most common treatment and the combination of cisplatin/etoposide was most frequently prescribed. CONCLUSION: The accurate diagnosis of (SCCP) is necessary for determining prognosis and deciding appropriate therapy.