Surgical resection of mediastinal metastasis from small cell carcinoma of bladder: case report.

Background: Isolated mediastinal metastasis from a malignant tumor and small cell carcinoma of the bladder are both very rare.

Case Presentation: A 76-year-old woman who had undergone surgery for bladder cancer twice was referred to our hospital for a right paracardiac mass noted in chest computed tomography findings, and resection of the tumor was performed. Histological analysis of the mediastinal tumor revealed it to be a metastatic small cell carcinoma of the bladder. At 4 months after surgery, multiple metastatic lesions were found in the chest and liver, and chemotherapy for small cell carcinoma was started.

Conclusions: We present this case of mediastinal metastasis of small cell carcinoma of the bladder, which is very rare, to show the importance of surgical resection of an isolated mediastinal tumor. Such a procedure should be considered, as histological diagnosis of the tumor could be useful for determining therapeutic options.