Small cell carcinoma of the gallbladder: report of two cases

Two Taiwanese patients with gallbladder small cell carcinoma are reported. One is a 79 year-old male, the other, a 86 year-old female. They both presented with the symptom/signs of acute cholecystitis and underwent cholecystectomy. An intramural mass in the gallbladder neck region was found in the first patient, while the second patient had a transmural indurated tumor in the gallbladder body with extension to the neck region. Characteristic histological and immunohistochemical features of small cell carcinoma were present in both, and electron dense neurosecretory granules were identified in the second. To our knowledge, the second patient is the oldest ever reported. The first patient received chemotherapy directed toward the initial erroneous diagnosis of non-Hodgkin s lymphoma and developed liver metastasis in two months. The second patient did not receive chemotherapy due to her poor general condition and local recurrence occurred in six weeks. Both passed away three and five months after surgery, respectively.