Small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder.

Small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder (SCCUB) is a rare and aggressive cancer of the bladder. SCCUB is part of neuroendocrine family of tumors that affect several organ systems including respiratory, gastrointestinal and male and female genitourinary tract. SCCUB affect males predominantly with common risk factors include smoking, bladder calculi, bladder manipulation, and chronic cystitis. Prognosis of SCCUB remains poor due to high metastatic potential and lack of symptoms in earlier stages of the disease. Pathogenesis of the disease is linked to loss of genetic material, hypermethylation of tumor suppressors and at times amplification of the chromosomal regions carrying oncogenes. Majority of cases are treated with local resection of the tumor with neoadjuvant or adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy regimen. Radiation therapy is used as alternative to radical cystectomy or as palliative measure. This article provides epidemiology, molecular pathogenesis, histochemistry, and current management options for SCCUB. Furthermore we reviewed all recent studies involving advancement in targeted molecular therapy for neuroendocrine tumors.