Small-Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of Nasopharynx: A Case Report

Abstract

Extrapulmonary small cell carcinomas are extremely rare, accounting for 0.1-0.4% of all malignancies and 2.5-4% of small cell carcinomas. In the head and neck region, the most common primary sites are the larynx, salivary gland, nasal cavity, paranasal sinus, tonsil, and oral cavity. Small cell carcinomas occurring in nasopharynx are exceedingly rare, to our best knowledge, only four cases of primary nasopharyngeal small cell carcinoma have been described in English literature. We report another case of nasopharyngeal small cell carcinoma arising in a 46-year-old woman. She accused, for five months, nasal blockage, right hypacusia, exophthalmos and reduced visual acuity. Cerebral and facial magnetic resonance imaging showed an extensive mass of the nasopharynx with the invasion of the sphenoidal body, the diagnosis of disseminated small cell carcinoma of nasopharynx was established. The patient received three courses of systemic chemotherapy; unfortunately, she died after the third course. The prognosis of such entity is poor and is similar to that for patients with extensive small cell lung cancer.

Small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the nasopharynx: a rare case report

“…As mentioned above, the expression of cytokeratins and neuroendocrine markers may vary among tumors. In the majority of cases, the analysis of the other eight cases reported in the literature showed the expression of chromogranin,8 , 11 , 14 , 15 synapthophysin,8 , 11 , 14 and CD56,11 , 14 , 15 with only one expressing neuron-specific enolase 8…”

“…We present the case of a nasopharyngeal small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, which, as far as we know, is the ninth case reported in the literature. 8 - 15 …”

Small-Cell Carcinoma of Nasopharynx: A Case Report of Unusual Localization

“…We present the case of a nasopharyngeal small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, which, as far as we know, is the 16th case reported in literature. 5,7,11,13,16,[18][19][20][21][23][24][25][26]…”

Small Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma: A Rare Nasopharyngeal Malignancy with Aggressive Clinical Course

“…Extrapulmonary SmNECs account for approximately 5% of all SmNECs, and have been reported at various sites such as esophagus, and pancreas [1,2]. In the head and neck, sporadic cases have been reported in larynx, and salivary glands [3]. SmNEC of nasopharynx is exceedingly rare, with only fourteen cases reported in literature (Table 1).…”