Penile metastasis from primary transitional cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis: first manifestation of systemic spread

Giorgio Pomara¹ , Ilaria Pastina² , Maurizio Simone¹ , Paolo Casale¹ , Gabriella Marchetti³ and Francesco Francesca¹

¹Department of Surgery, Urology Unit, S. Chiara Hospital, Pisa, Italy

²Department of Oncology, S. Chiara Hospital, Pisa, Italy

³Department of Pathological Anatomy, S. Chiara Hospital, Pisa, Italy

author email corresponding author email

BMC Cancer 2004, 4:90doi:10.1186/1471-2407-4-90


Published:	3 December 2004

Abstract

Background

Almost one-third of all penile metastases are detected at the same time as a primary tumor, whereas the remaining two-thirds are detected a mean of 18 months after the discovery of the primary tumor. Cutaneous metastasis of transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) is extremely rare and generally accepted as the late manifestation of a systemic spread.

Case presentation

We report the first case of simultaneous penile and lung metastases from a primary TCC of the renal pelvis in a 76-year-old man, that occurred 8 years after a left nephroureterectomy.

Conclusions

This case report underscores the importance of physical examinations of the skin of patients who undergo surgical procedures for TCC from bladder as well as from the upper urinary tract, including those seemingly without metastatic disease, because of the possibility of skin and penile metastatic spread.