Description
Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is rare historically but may be increasingin prevalence as patients potentially develop resistance to contemporary anti-androgen treatment through a neuroendocrine phenotype. Diagnosis can be straightforward when classic morphological features are accompanied by a prototypical immunohistochemistry profile, however there is increasing recognition of disease heterogeneity and hybrid phenotypes. In the primary setting, small cell prostatic carcinoma (SCPC) is frequently admixed with adenocarcinomas that may be clonally related, while a small fraction of SCPCs express markers typical of prostatic adenocarcinoma. Gene expression patterns may eventually help elucidate the biology underlying equivocal cases with discordant IHC, however studies to date have focused on prototypical cases and been based on few patients due to disease rarity.