Lethal disseminated intravascular coagulation induced by primary and metastatic neuroendocrine prostate cancer

• Published in: IJU case reports Vol. 7; no. 3; pp. 238 - 242
• Main Authors: Ando, Takashi, Sasaki, Taro, Naito, Makoto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Australia John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.05.2024; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Androgens; Antigens; Autopsies; Biopsy; Cancer therapies; Case Report; Case Reports; Disease; disseminated intravascular coagulation; Lungs; Metastasis; neoplasm metastasis; neuroendocrine carcinoma; neuroendocrine carcinoma prostate cancer; Patients; Prostate cancer; Scintigraphy; Thrombosis; Tumors; biopsy; neoplasm metastasis; neuroendocrine carcinoma; neuroendocrine carcinoma prostate cancer; case reports; disseminated intravascular coagulation
• ISSN: 2577-171X; 2577-171X
• DOI: 10.1002/iju5.12712

Introduction Neuroendocrine prostate cancer has a poor prognosis. Although disseminated intravascular coagulation associated with malignancy can be lethal, it very rarely occurs among patients with primary neuroendocrine prostate cancer. Case presentation An 80‐year‐old man presented to our hospital with bloody sputum. Blood examination indicated disseminated intravascular coagulation. Serum levels of prostate‐specific antigen and neuron‐specific enolase were 44.274 and 176 ng/mL, respectively. Core needle biopsies of an irregular mass in the prostate and a metastatic tumor in the left iliac bone showed similar neuroendocrine carcinoma cells. Hence, the patient was diagnosed with disseminated intravascular coagulation associated with primary and metastatic neuroendocrine prostate cancer. Unfortunately, he passed away 3 weeks after the biopsies. Conclusion Given the difficulty of effectively treating metastatic neuroendocrine prostate cancer among patients in poor physical condition due to disease progression, identifying a new well‐tolerated treatment modality is imperative.