Papillary tumour of the vagina resembling transitional cell carcinoma

A case of a peculiar papillary neoplasia of the vagina resembling a urothelial tumour is presented. Four vaginal tumours were excised from a 76-year-old woman. Five years before this patient had undergone a uretero-nephrectomy for a non-invasive papillary transitional cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis. The four vaginal tumours demonstrated gross and microscopic similarities to low-grade papillary transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary tract. This observation indicates that multicentric, non-invasive, papillary tumours may affect the whole uro-genital area. The vaginal wall was not overlaid by a normal squamous epithelium, but by a peculiar "transitional-like" epithelium. Variegated endocrine cells were documented within this lining, using immunohistochemical and ultrastructural techniques. The eventuality of a histogenetic link between the tumour and the adjacent epithelial lining remains unresolved.