Urachal cancer
| Urachal cancer | |
|---|---|
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| Micrograph of urachal carcinoma (right of image) and non-malignant urothelium (left of image). H&E stain. | |
| Classification and external resources | |
| Specialty | oncology |
| eMedicine | radio/727 |
Urachal cancer is a very rare type of cancer arising from the urachus or its remnants. The disease might arise from metaplasic glandular epithelium or embryonic epithelial remnants originating from the cloaca region.
It occurs in roughly about one person per 1 million people per year varying on the geographical region. Men are affected slightly more often than women mostly in the 5th decade of life but the disease can occur in also in other age groups.
It can involve the urinary bladder, but is not bladder cancer in the usual sense. Urachal cancer can occur at any site along the urachal tract.
Urachal cancer was mentioned by Hue and Jacquin in 1863 followed by an elaborate work by T. Cullen in 1916 about diseases of the umbilicus, while C. Begg further characterized urachal cancer in the 1930s. Detailed diagnostic and staging schemes were proposed by Sheldon et al in 1984, which remain widely used today.
Urachal cancer can exist for some years without any symptoms. The most frequent initial symptom is haematuria, but mucinuria (mucin in the urine), local pain or swelling, recurrent local or urinary tract infections and umbilical discharge can be seen.
The diagnosis of urachal cancer can be difficult and usually requires a multidisciplinary approach. A calcification in the midline can be detected in some patients in abdominal imaging studies. A cystoscopy is helpful in most cases. For diagnosis evaluation of a tissue biopsy is needed, which is usually obtained by transurethral resection (TURBT). Measurement of serum concentrations of CEA, CA19-9 and CA125 can be helpful in monitoring urachal cancer
Urachal cancer usually is an adenocarcinoma (about 90%) mostly with mucinous/colloidal histology. The histology can be difficult to distinguish especially from colorectal cancer and primary adenocarcinoma of the urinary bladder. in this situation is of little help with stains for betaCatenin and Cytokeratin 7 can be helpful. Other rare types include urothelial carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, neuroendocrine carcinoma and sarcoma.
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