Urothelial Carcinoma: Highlights and Reviews on Various Pathologies

Abstract

Bladder cancers are the ninth most frequently diagnosed cancer worldwide. More than 90% of bladder cancers are of transitional cell origin and are classified as urothelial carcinomas (UC). UC remains amongst the most genetically diverse tumours and presents with numerous unique histological variants. The most common variants are squamous differentiated UC and glandular differentiated UC. Both of these variants tend to present at a later disease stage than conventional UC and are associated with worse patient outcomes. Rarer UC variants include trophoblastic differentiated UC, nested UC, micropapillary UC, plasmacytoid UC, and sarcomatoid UC. They also present at more advanced disease states than conventional UC, resulting in worse patient outcomes. Limited data is available for the pleomorphic giant cell UC and lipid-rich UC variants, but it suggests morbid outcomes with high patient mortality. The only UC variant with better prognosis than conventional UC is lymphoepithelioid-like UC. Proper identification of the histological variant of UC is important, as it aids the physician in clinical decision-making and can lead to better patient outcomes.

Keywords

• bladder cancer
• differentiation
• histological variants
• urothelial carcinoma