The significance of colonic mucosa (intestinal metaplasia) involving the urinary tract.
Although colonic type goblet cells are a relatively common component of reactive urothelial lesions and well-differentiated adenocarcinomas, complete replacement of areas of urothelium by benign appearing intestinal mucosa is a rare condition. All of the 11 documented cases occurred in association with abnormalities leading to chronic irritation and/or infection. In the three cases where the reported period of observation exceeded 2 years, all patients developed carcinoma. Despite its innocuous histology, widespread intestinal metaplasia apparently identifies a disturbed urothelium at high risk for cancer.
D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000473:pathology*; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*