Solitary cerebral metastasis from transitional cell carcinoma after a 14-year remission of urinary bladder cancer treated with gemcitabine: Case report and literature review

BACKGROUND: Brain metastases are the most common adult brain tumors, frequently arising from primary tumors in the lung, breast, skin, kidneys, and colon. Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), the most common type of urinary bladder cancer, is a rare cause of brain metastasis with an ominous prognosis. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 68-year-old female presented with right-sided paresis and focal motor seizures of her right upper and lower extremities 14 years after being diagnosed and treated for primary TCC of the urinary bladder with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy. MRI imaging revealed a 3.1 × 3.1 × 2.7 cm heterogeneously enhancing mass located along the posterior aspect of the left frontal convexity. The lesion was accessed using a transsulcal approach and was surgically debulked along the motor cortex with motor strip mapping, followed by adjuvant whole-brain radiation therapy. Pathological examination confirmed metastatic carcinoma with features of TCC, a rare entity among metastatic brain tumors. CONCLUSION: Brain metastases may present several years later in patients with TCC of the urinary bladder who have been treated with surgery and chemotherapy. Chemotherapeutic agents that penetrate the blood–brain barrier, such as gemcitabine, may delay development of cerebral metastasis from primary TCC of the urinary bladder.