Cure of undifferentiated small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder with M-VAC chemotherapy

Small cell carcinoma (SCC) of the urinary bladder is a rare, aggressive mal ignancy with approximately 135 cases reported in the literature. Treatments have included chemotherapy, radical surgery, radiotherapy, and combination s of these. We present the apparent cure of a 73-year-old man who presented with clinical stage T2 SCC of the urinary bladder. He was treated with thr ee cycles of methotrexate, vinblastine, Adriamycin (doxorubicin), and cispl atin (M-VAC) chemotherapy. Subsequent radical cystoprostatectomy revealed n o pathologic evidence of tumor. The patient is alive and well with no evide nce of recurrence 3 years post cystectomy. A brief review of the literature is also presented. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.