Case – Highly aggressive urothelial carcinoma of the bladder presenting with solitary metastasis to the phalanx

摘要

In the U.S. in 2019, it was projected that there would be close to 80 000 new cases of urinary bladder cancer diagnosed, with 17 670 cancer-related deaths.1 The ureters and other urinary organs accounted for approximately 4000 cancer diagnoses in 2019.1 Furthermore, these numbers do not include the relatively rare cancer diagnosis in the renal pelvis. Urothelial carcinomas include cancers of the bladder, ureters, and renal pelvis. When invasive, urothelial carcinomas typically extend locally, with metastatic spread via lymphatics extending to the regional lymph nodes, liver, lungs, bones, and peritoneum. Muscle-invasive urothelial carcinomas are highly aggressive compared to cancers of the upper urinary tract, carrying a five-year disease-specific survival rate of <50% in pT2/pT3 disease, and this survival rate drops below 10% in pT4 cancer.2