Primary small cell carcinoma of the common bile duct, in which surgical treatment was performed after neoadjuvant chemotherapy: report of a case.

Primary small cell carcinoma of the hepatobiliary tract is rare. Most cases occur in the gallbladder or in the ampulla of Vater, and such cases in the common bile duct (CBD) are extremely rare. We herein report a case of small cell carcinoma arising in the CBD. In this case, neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy showed an excellent response. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of small cell carcinoma of the CBD in which a radical resection was performed after successful neoadjuvant chemotherapy.