To investigate the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of patients with small cell carcinoma of the prostate, and to improve the understanding of small cell carcinoma of the prostate.

Three cases of small cell carcinoma of prostate admitted to Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine were reported, and the data of 112 cases of small cell carcinoma of prostate reported in China were collected and analyzed.

The data of 115 cases were analyzed. The median PSA of 63 patients with pure prostate small cell carcinoma was 2.68 ng/ml, the median PSA of 22 patients with mixed prostate small cell carcinoma was 19.46 ng/ml, the others had no PSA valve or unclear pathological type. The clinical stages were mainly T3 and T4. Bone metastasis was more common, followed by lung and liver metastasis. 92 of 115 patients had follow-up data. The median survival time was 8 months. The 3-month, 1-year and 2-year survival rates were 85.7%, 26.5% and 17.0% respectively. Among patients without distant metastasis, the median survival time of patients receiving chemotherapy was 12 months and that of patients not receiving chemotherapy was 8 months, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The median survival time of patients who received local treatment was 15 months and that of patients who did not receive local treatment was 7 months, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The median survival time of patients with distant metastasis was 8 months after receiving chemotherapy and 5 months without chemotherapy (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in survival time between receiving local treatment and not receiving local treatment in patients with distant metastasis (P>0.05).

Small cell carcinoma of the prostate has a high degree of malignancy, strong invasiveness, rapid progression and poor prognosis. Most cases are in advanced stage when clinically diagnosed, and bone metastasis is the most common distant metastasis. Chemotherapy can improve the survival time of patients, and local treatment can significantly prolong the median survival time of patients without distant metastasis.