Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 17, 2026
Patient-derived Orthotopic Xenograft Models for Human Urothelial Cell Carcinoma and Colorectal Cancer Tumor Growth and Spontaneous Metastasis
Published on: May 12, 2019
Primary bladder adenocarcinoma versus metastatic colorectal adenocarcinoma: a persisting diagnostic challenge
Somak Roy1, Matthew A Smith, Kathy M Cieply
1Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA.
Aim:
This study attempted to distinguish primary bladder adenocarcinoma (PBA) from metastatic colonic adenocarcinomas (MCA), which is a difficult diagnostic and clinical problem.
Methods:
Twenty-four cases of bladder adenocarcinomas (12 primary & 12 metastatic colorectal) were included in the study with urothelial carcinoma (UC) and colonic adenocarcinoma (CA) as controls. A panel of immunohistochemical (IHC) stains along with fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH), using the UroVysion probe set, was performed.
Results:
The majority of the PBAs presented with advanced disease. Enteric histologic subtype was the most common morphological variant. Strong nuclear with cytoplasmic-membranous staining of β-catenin was seen in 75% of MCA and only 16.7% PBA (<10% staining cells). Although abnormal nuclear staining with E-cadherin was seen in both PBA and MCA, it was more frequent in former. CK-7, CK-20, villin and CDX-2 stains were not helpful in distinguishing the two entities. FISH did not reveal any unique differences in chromosomal abnormality between the two groups.
Conclusion:
Although there was a statistically significant difference in β-catenin and E-cadherin staining between two groups, we did not find any IHC or FISH marker that was specific for PBA. Distinction between PBA and MCA remains a diagnostic problem and clinical correlation is vital before rendering a diagnosis.
Virtual Slides:
The virtual slides for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1393156268152357.
