This protocol addresses cervical small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (SCNEC), a rare and distinctly aggressive histological subtype of cervical cancer. SCNEC accounts for only up to 2% of all invasive cervical cancers, yet carries a particular propensity for distant spread — a behaviour analogous to small-cell carcinoma of the lung.
The aggressive biology and tendency for early metastasis in cervical SCNEC mean that management strategy is determined by extent of disease at presentation — from potentially resectable limited-stage disease through to locoregionally advanced and metastatic settings — rather than following standard cervical carcinoma protocols.
Cervical small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma is a rare disease, accounting for only up to 2% of all invasive cervical cancers but has a particular propensity to spread distantly, which is similar to small-cell carcinoma of the lung.
Most clinicians favour: the use of combined modality therapy (surgery followed by chemotherapy or combined CRT) for limited-stage potentially resectable disease; definitive CRT for locoregionally advanced unresectable but non-metastatic disease; and palliative chemotherapy alone for those with metastatic disease, using chemotherapy regimens that are typically used for small-cell lung cancer.
DOI: 10.1093/annonc/mdx220
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