Abstract:      Background and purpose: Rectal small cell carcinoma is high malignant tumor and prone to early metastasis. It is rare in the clinical and its prognosis is poor. The aim of this article was to analyze clinical characteristics and summarize the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of rectal small cell carcinoma. Methods: Clinical data of 16 cases with rectal small cell carcinoma confirmed by pathology from Jan. 2001 to Jan. 2013 in the Tumor Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University Hospital were analyzed retrospectively. Results: Among the 16 rectal small cell carcinoma patients (mean age is 58.5 years), 9 were male, 7 were female; 4 cases in stage Ⅱ, 7 cases in stage Ⅲ and 5 cases in stage Ⅳ. Ten cases underwent surgical treatment, of which 6 cases underwent radical surgery, 4 cases underwent palliative surgery; 6 cases received chemotherapy alone, 2 cases received chemoradiotherapy, 2 cases did not receive any treatment postoperatively. Five cases were lost opportunity for operation, of which 3 cases underwent chemotherapy alone and 2 cases underwent chemoradiotherapy. One case did not receive any treatment. Among 10 cases of resection of the lesions, 5 cases had vascular invasion and 7 cases had local lymph node metastasis. All patients received 7-65 months of follow-up. The median survival was 15.4 months. The 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years and 5 years survival rates were 58.4%, 46.2%, 26.6%, 13.1% and 6.2% respectively. The prognosis of patients was associated with tumor staging, presence of vascular invasion and lymph node metastasis, and type of operation (P<0.05); but not related to age, gender and tumor size (P>0.05). Conclusion: The biologic behavior of rectal small cell carcinoma which is a rare disease and similar to small cell lung cancer, and its prognosis is poor. Treatment methods include surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The overall result is poor.

Key words: Rectal small cell carcinoma, Clinical characteristics, Treatment, Prognosis