Primary choriocarcinoma of the urinary bladder--a case report

We report a primary choriocarcinoma of the urinary bladder in a 63-year-old man who presented with painless hematuria. He was diagnosed as having an invasive carcinoma and underwent a total cystectomy. The tumor was diffusely hemorrhagic and occupied the dome of the bladder. Histologically, it consisted of cyto-and syncytiotrophoblasts with extensive hemorrhage. No coexisting transitional cell carcinoma component was present. By immunohistochemistry, the tumor expressed beta-hCG and low-molecular weight cytokeratin intensely while it was negative for CEA or EMA. The post-cystectomy serum beta-hCG was 237mlU/ml, and decreased later. The pertinent literature is reviewed and diagnostic criteria are discussed.