Muscle–invasive bladder cancer in a young adult: a case report and a review of the literature

The peak incidence of bladder cancer (BC) is in the sixth decade of life. Muscle–invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) in young adults is extremely rare. We report a case of MIBC in a 28–year–old smoking male patient. The patient presented with hematuria and flank pain for which he underwent a computerized tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen and pelvis with and without contrast. The CT scan showed a 6 cm mass on the left side of the trigone extending to the left urteric orifice and left hydronephrosis, but no lymphadenopathy was noted. The patient then underwent a left nephrostomy tube placement followed by trans–urethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT). The tumor involved both ureteric orifices and extended to the prostatic urethra. Complete resection was not feasible. Pathology showed high–grade T1 urothelial carcinoma. CT scan of the chest showed no distant lung metastasis. The patient then elected to undergo radical cystectomy with ileal conduit urinary diversion. Final pathology revealed T2a N0 urothelial carcinoma of the bladder. Our aim is to present our experience and review the literature for the natural history and oncological and quality of life outcomes of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder in young patients.