Nadig S N, Deibler A R, El Salamony T M, Hull G W, Bissada N K
Department of Urology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA.
Can J Urol. 2001 Feb;8(1):1207-10.
Adenocarcinoma is by far the most commonly diagnosed histologic subtype among prostate malignancies. Historically, there has been little awareness of the rare but lethal small cell carcinoma (SCC) in association with prostate cancer. Within the last decade, however, several reports have documented the existence of a neuroendocrine-like tumor arising from cells in the prostate. There is evidence that the development of poorly-differentiated neuroendocrine cells (similar to those found in oat cell carcinomas of the lung) can be seen in the progression of an initially pure adenocarcinoma, possibly due to the totipotential nature of the basal or reserve cells normally present in the prostatic acini. Although pure SCC is rare, admixtures of adenocarcinoma and small cell components may be more prevalent than previously believed. Since effective treatment of a prostatic tumor, or part of a tumor, with an SCC etiology differs from that of pure adenocarcinoma, early recognition of any histologic or clinical changes in the patient with prostate cancer may alter the course of the disease.
腺癌是前列腺恶性肿瘤中目前最常被诊断出的组织学亚型。从历史上看，人们对与前列腺癌相关的罕见但致命的小细胞癌（SCC）了解甚少。然而，在过去十年中，有几份报告记录了前列腺中细胞产生的一种神经内分泌样肿瘤的存在。有证据表明，在最初为纯腺癌的进展过程中，可以看到低分化神经内分泌细胞（类似于肺燕麦细胞癌中的细胞）的发展，这可能是由于前列腺腺泡中正常存在的基底细胞或储备细胞的全能性。虽然纯SCC很少见，但腺癌和小细胞成分的混合可能比以前认为的更普遍。由于对具有SCC病因的前列腺肿瘤或肿瘤的一部分进行有效治疗与纯腺癌不同，早期识别前列腺癌患者的任何组织学或临床变化可能会改变疾病的进程。
