A Series of Primary Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma of the Urinary Bladder

Primary signet ring cell carcinomas of the bladder (PSRCCB) are extremely rare tumors. These tumors generally present as high-grade, high-stage tumors and have a uniformly poor prognosis. PSRCCB need to be differentiated from metastases from other primary sites. Clinical, imaging, and immune-histochemical findings may help in identifying the primary source of signet cell cancer. We retrospectively reviewed our series of patient identified to have primary signet cell carcinoma of the bladder. We retrospectively reviewed all case records of patients with carcinoma bladder. Only patients with a histopathological report of signet ring cell carcinoma of the bladder were included in this study. During the period Sept 1991 to Aug 2016, a total five patients (0.18%) were diagnosed to have had PSRCCB. Hematuria was the main symptom in four of the five patients. Cystoscopy/TURBT was done in all patients, and histological examination confirmed signet cell carcinoma. All the patients were counseled and underwent radical cystectomy. The mean overall survival was 28.2 ± 3.7 months. We report a small series of primary signet cell carcinoma presenting over a 25-year period with an overall incidence of 0.18%. Post radical cystectomy local recurrence/distant metastases are common and response to chemotherapy was poor. The overall outcome for signet-ring cell cancers in general is very poor.