Small-Cell Type, Poorly Differentiated Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of the Gallbladder: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Abstract

The poorly differentiated small-cell type, neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) of the gallbladder is a very uncommon subtype of a neuroendocrine tumor of the gastrointestinal tract. Nonsecretory NEC by virtue of its nonspecific and subtle clinical presentation of the tumor is usually diagnosed at an advance stage with presenting symptoms related to either locally advance disease or from metastatic disease. Though the radiologic imaging does identify the gall bladder cancer, the tumor lacks a specific diagnostic test; therefore, the diagnosis is almost always confirmed on histopathologic and immunohistochemical staining. We present a case of a poorly differentiated, small-cell neuroendocrine tumor of the gallbladder. The patient died within 3 months after the definitive diagnosis was made. Survival from this deadly malignancy can be improved with aggressive surgical treatment followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy on a case-by-case scenario. The systemic chemotherapy remained the treatment of choice for an unresectable tumor (Chen et al., 2014).