Plasmacytoid urothelial carcinoma of the urinary bladder report of seven new cases.
BACKGROUND
Plasmacytoid urothelial carcinoma (PUC) is a rare tumor of the urinary bladder. Its clinical and histopathological features have not been well characterized. In this study we report seven cases of PUC from our institution.


METHODS
A pilot case of PUC was recently diagnosed at our institution. Cases of urothelial carcinoma (UC) were reviewed for a period of seven years to identify PUC. Representative sections from each case of PUC were submitted for immunohistochemical studies. Clinical charts were reviewed.


RESULTS
There were a total of seven cases of PUC out of 260 cases of invasive urothelial carcinoma. The common type of urothelial carcinoma (CUC) was present in focal areas in five cases. Cases with extensive PUC showed coarse and indurated mucosal folds and thickened bladder walls, with no grossly identifiable tumor. Urine cytology showed a scant number of atypical single cells, frequently without tumor diathesis, leading to a shortfall in the positive cytological diagnosis. Histologically, PUC appeared as dyscohesive, plasmacytoid cells with eccentric nuclei, extending widely into the bladder walls and extensively into adjacent pelvic organs.


CONCLUSIONS
PUC is a distinct clinical and pathological subtype of urothelial carcinoma. The clinical presentation is frequently late due to the frequent absence of hematuria and indurated mucosal surface at cystoscopy. The disease followed an ominous course with recurrence in all the patients, and with patient death.
Mai
Kien T
KT
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Anatomical Pathology, The Ottawa Hospital and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. ktmai@ottawahospital.on.ca
Park
Paul C
PC
Yazdi
Hossein M
HM
Saltel
Eric
E
Erdogan
Seyda
S
Stinson
William A
WA
Cagiannos
Ilias
I
Morash
Christopher
C
D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure