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Case Reports
. 2020 May 28;3(5):166-169.
doi: 10.1002/iju5.12167. eCollection 2020 Sep.

Progressive plasmacytoid variant bladder cancer with retroperitoneal dissemination: An autopsy case report

Yuki Kohada  1 , Yasuhiro Kaiho  1 , Jun Ito  1 , Jotaro Mikami  1 , Go Anan  1 , Katsutoshi Asano  2 , Toru Yaegashi  2 , Kazuhiro Murakami  3 , Yasuhiro Nakamura  3 , Makoto Sato  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Progressive plasmacytoid variant bladder cancer with retroperitoneal dissemination: An autopsy case report

Yuki Kohada et al. IJU Case Rep. .

Abstract

Introduction: Plasmacytoid urothelial carcinoma is a rare and aggressive variant of bladder cancer.

Case presentation: A 75-year-old woman presented with plasmacytoid urothelial carcinoma with retroperitoneal dissemination was treated with chemotherapy. After an unsuccessful first-line chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin, we assessed circulating tumor cells; one such cell was found to be positive for programmed death-ligand 1. The patient received second-line chemotherapy with pembrolizumab. However, the tumor extended to the retroperitoneal organs, and the patient eventually died. Autopsy revealed a widespread diffuse scirrhous infiltration of the carcinoma into the retroperitoneum. However, distant metastasis was not observed.

Conclusion: The evaluation of circulating tumor cells and autopsy revealed a disease state of progressive plasmacytoid urothelial carcinoma treated with pembrolizumab.

Keywords: autopsy; circulating tumor cell; pembrolizumab; plasmacytoid urothelial carcinoma; urinary bladder neoplasm.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
CT scan findings of the current case. (a) Ill‐defined soft tissues spread into the pelvis (arrows), which indicated retroperitoneal dissemination. (b) Diffuse thickening was observed in the bladder and rectum wall (arrows).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Histological findings of the current case. The tumor cells were discohesive with eccentrically located nuclei and abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
CTCs were observed in 7.5 mL of blood using the Celsee system in the current case. (a) The CTC at the bright field. (b) The CTC was immunohistochemically positive for PD‐L1 antibody.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Autopsy findings of the current case. (a) The primary tumor involved the whole urinary bladder and directly invaded the anterior wall of the uterus and diffusely infiltrated into the whole myometrium of the uterus. (b) The tumor cells were immunohistologically positive for HER2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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