Primary sarcomatoid urothelial carcinoma of the ureter: a case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND: Sarcomatoid urothelial carcinoma is a very dangerous malignant tumour derived from the epithelium. Primary sarcomatoid carcinoma of the ureter is extremely rare in clinical practice. The prognosis of this kind of disease is really poor, and there is still not a diagnosis standard in the world. CASE PRESENTATION: An 82-year-old female patient who had intermittent waist pain without any other symptoms, had diagnosed as urothelial cancer on computerised tomography urography. Considering the patient’s age and quality of life, we made a preserving kidneys resection of the local tumour. The tumour was composed of sarcomatous and carcinomatous elements, and immunohistochemical examination showed that tumour cells were positive for cytokeratin, epithelial membrane antigen, vimentin, and GATA3 markers. There were no complications after 1-hour surgery. After 3 months, there was no signs of recurrence and metastasis. CONCLUSION: This case was a patient with sacomatoid urothelial carcinoma. Through a transurethral resection with laser, the patient recovered well, and there was no sign of any recurrence of the tumour after 3 months. With the development of technology and science, more and more cancerous patients’ living quality and survival rate were improved. Maybe it is essential for urologists and scientists to entirely understand the characteristics of the sarcomatoid urothelial carcinoma and make a better clinical guideline.