Extrapulmonary oat cell carcinoma

Cancer. 1984 Oct 15;54(8):1645-61. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19841015)54:8<1645::aid-cncr2820540828>3.0.co;2-q.

Abstract

Primary extrapulmonary tumors with histologic features indistinguishable from bronchogenic oat cell carcinoma are appearing with increasing frequency in the literature. These tumors have been described in the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, larynx, hypopharynx, salivary glands, nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses, thymus, small and large bowel, uterine cervix, endometrium, breast, prostate, urinary bladder, and skin. It is now widely believed that oat cell carcinoma is a poorly differentiated counterpart of carcinoid tumor and that both originate from an endocrine cell system. In this article, the authors review all cases of extrapulmonary oat cell carcinomas, which they were able to find in the English literature, and report personally studied examples of these tumors, occurring in the esophagus, stomach and urinary bladder. A closely related, if not identical, tumor arising in the skin is also described. It is emphasized that a wider recognition of these tumors is likely to lead to their more frequent diagnosis and possible treatment.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Carcinoma, Small Cell / pathology*
  • Esophageal Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Intestinal Neoplasms / pathology
  • Laryngeal Neoplasms / pathology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nose Neoplasms / pathology
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Paranasal Sinus Neoplasms / pathology
  • Pharyngeal Neoplasms / pathology
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Salivary Gland Neoplasms / pathology
  • Skin Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Stomach Neoplasms / pathology
  • Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / pathology
  • Uterine Neoplasms / pathology