[Clinical characteristics of 13 neuroendocrine prostate cancer patients]

Objective: To explore the radiological, pathological features and clinical characteristics of neuroendocrine prostate cancer patients(NEPC). Methods: The clinical characteristics and pathology data of 13 neuroendocrine prostate cancer patients treated in the Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin Medical University from January 2004 to January 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. Results: Of all 13 patients, three cases were primally diagnosed small cell cancer, and 10 cases were translated to neuroendocrine type from adenocarcinoma after endocrine therapy. Frequent urination, urgency, nocturia, and dysuria were main symptoms. Serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was (14.5±3.2)μg/L; the volume of prostate was enlarged, mean volume, range 28-176(45±4)ml. The lesion was moderately low signal intensity in T(2)WI, while slightly higher signal in DWI. Signal characteristic of dynamic enhanced MRI was "fast in fast out" . The expression of Synaptophysin, Chromogranin A , CD56 and Ki-67 in NEPC were highly expressed by immunohistochemistry analysis. Among them, five patients accepted intravenous chemotherapy, two cases received external radiation therapy, three cases received cryoablation and three cases received palliative therapy. Median survival time in all 13 patients was 10 months, while median survival time in patients treated by chemotherapy was 16 months . Conclusion: NEPC is a highly aggressive subtype of prostate cancer characterized by rapid disease progression, lack of treatment and worse prognosis. Therefore, patients with NEPC may benefit from early diagnosis and comprehensive treatment with chemotherapy.