Small-cell carcinoma-associated ovarian mucinous carcinoma: A case report and literature review

Neuroendocrine neoplasm-associated ovarian mucinous carcinoma occurs extremely rarely. Here, we report an ovarian composite tumor consisting of small-cell carcinoma and mucinous carcinoma in a 51-year-old woman presented with abdominal distention. Ultrasonography revealed the presence of a complex irregular cystic solid mass. Microscopic findings showed pulmonary-type small-cell carcinoma-associated, intestinal-type ovarian mucinous carcinoma-with positive results for several neuroendocrine markers (chromogranin, CD56) and the thyroid transcription factor-1. The patient underwent total hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, omentectomy, and six cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy but died eight months after the surgery due to disease progression. Few reports are available in China on this clinicopathological feature in this composite tumor type. The timely identification of ovarian small-cell carcinoma among other ovarian tumors is critically important to the accurate and prompt determination of the therapy due to its high invasiveness and metastatic potential.