AIM: To present a series of seven cases of gastric small cell carcinoma (GSCC) treated surgically and to illustrate the clinicopathological features and clinical course. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Among 1,832 patients with gastric cancer who underwent gastric resection between 1997 and 2012, we reviewed the clinical records of 7 patients with histopathological diagnoses of GSCC. RESULTS: No patients had preoperative confirmation of GSCC from endoscopic biopsy. Curative resection (R0) was achieved in 5 patients (71.4%). Two out of the 5 patients with curative resection survived more than four years. Two out of 3 patients who received weekly paclitaxel had progression-free survival of more than 10 months. The median survival time for the whole patient group was 14 months and the 3-year survival rate was 25.0%. CONCLUSION: Curative surgery with adjuvant chemotherapy may be essential to improve the prognosis of GSCC, and weekly paclitaxel chemotherapy may represent a promising chemotherapy for GSCC. Copyright
AIM: To present a series of seven cases of gastric small cell carcinoma (GSCC) treated surgically and to illustrate the clinicopathological features and clinical course. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Among 1,832 patients with gastric cancer who underwent gastric resection between 1997 and 2012, we reviewed the clinical records of 7 patients with histopathological diagnoses of GSCC. RESULTS: No patients had preoperative confirmation of GSCC from endoscopic biopsy. Curative resection (R0) was achieved in 5 patients (71.4%). Two out of the 5 patients with curative resection survived more than four years. Two out of 3 patients who received weekly paclitaxel had progression-free survival of more than 10 months. The median survival time for the whole patient group was 14 months and the 3-year survival rate was 25.0%. CONCLUSION: Curative surgery with adjuvant chemotherapy may be essential to improve the prognosis of GSCC, and weekly paclitaxel chemotherapy may represent a promising chemotherapy for GSCC. Copyright