Small cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix--an uncommon variant of cervical cancer with neuroendocrine features.

Small cell carcinoma (SCC) of the uterine cervix represents an uncommon variant of cervical cancer with an extremely aggressive biologic behavior, minimum survival chances and rapid and fatal clinical course. This retrospective study included 73 cases of patients treated for invasive squamous carcinoma of the uterine cervix at stages Ib and IIa at the Department of Gynecology in the years 1996-2000. Six patients (8%) with SCC were identified among all cases, sharing the clinical features of young age and early failure of appropriate radical treatment in the presence of apparently low stage disease. Neuroendocrine cellular characteristics were assessed by the biotin-streptavidin-peroxidase (LSAB) method using antibodies against neuron-specific enolase (NSE; DAKO), chromogranin A (CGA; DAKO) and synaptophysin (SYN; DAKO). All tumors examined were positive for NSE and/or CGA and/or SYN. Although the presence of neuroendocrine features appears to correlate with decreased survival, the number of patients is not large enough to determine statistical significance. However, the results confirm that SCC of the uterine cervix is one of the most aggressive tumors of the female genital tract.