Open Access

CASE REPORT

Enteric type urachal adenocarcinoma: a case report

Dina El Demellawy¹, Ahmed Nasr², Salem Alowami³, Nicholas Escott¹

1 Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
2 Department of General Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
3 Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Address correspondence to Dr. Dina El Demellawy, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Suite 1720, 980 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7B 6V4 Canada

Canadian Journal of Urology 2009, 16(4), 4753-4756.

Abstract

Urachal pathology is rare. The most frequently reported lesion is urachal adenocarcinoma. The pathogenesis of urachal adenocarcinoma is unknown. We report a case of a 55-year-old man who presented with microscopic hematuria. Clinical work up showed a tumor involving the urinary bladder with extravesical extension. Masses or tumors involving other organs were excluded. Partial cystectomy revealed a distended bladder wall with the formation of a cystically dilated mass fi lled with mucoid material. Microscopic examination showed enteric type adenocarcinoma with abundant mucin formation. The neoplastic urachal epithelium showed features of colonic differentiation as evidenced by the presence of goblet cells and positive staining for acid mucin and cytokeratins 20 (CK 20). Such features are absent in non-neoplastic urachal epithelium. This was a rare case of urachal adenocarcinoma, enteric type, with abundant mucin formation. The urachal adenocarcinoma had morphological features and an immunohistochemical profi le that were similar to that of adenocarcinoma of the colon.

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