https://doi.org/10.1177/1066896919880263
International Journal of Surgical Pathology
1–6
© The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/1066896919880263
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Case Report
Introduction
Tubular adenoma of the urinary tract is extremely rare and
has been documented in lower urinary tract predomi-
nantly.
1
Adenoma of ureter is very uncommon, and
reported cases include villous and tubulovillous adeno-
mas. Similarly, adenocarcinoma of renal pelvis is also a
rare tumor. In this article, we present 2 cases of adenocar-
cinoma of upper urinary tract arising from tubular ade-
noma with high-grade dysplasia having different clinical
background.
Case Report
Case 1
A 44-year-old male patient presented with recurrent left
flank pain and hematuria. Ultrasonography revealed con-
tracted left kidney with stone at the pelvis. The right kid-
ney was normal. A percutaneous nephrolithotomy was
performed. Six months following this, the patient devel-
oped pus discharging sinus at the percutaneous nephroli-
thotomy site. At this time, renal function test was normal.
Contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan revealed
gross hydroureteronephrosis of left side with multiple
ureteric hyperdense areas (mean attenuation = 70 HU).
Left kidney measured 10.3 cm and revealed multiple
hypodense areas (likely to be abscess), the largest measur-
ing 3.1 × 2.1 cm, communicating with fistulous tract. The
urinary bladder was normal. The patient was diagnosed as
chronic pyelonephritis with nonfunctioning left kidney
and underwent left nephroureterectomy.
On gross examination, the kidney measured 11 × 7 ×
4 cm, and external aspect was contracted and scarred.
Ureter measured 15 cm in length and revealed 3 polypoi-
dal growths projecting within the lumen, measuring from
1 to 1.5 cm (Figure 1A). Similar polypoidal growth was
also seen in the pelviureteric junction. On opening the kid-
ney, there was a large polypoidal growth filling the pelvis
and infiltrating the renal parenchyma. In addition, there
were multiple abscesses involving cortex and medulla of
880263IJS XX X 10.1177/1066896919880263International Journal of Surgical PathologyNambiyar et al
research-article 2019
1
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER),
Chandigarh, India
Corresponding Author:
Debajyoti Chatterjee, Department of Histopathology, Postgraduate
Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), 5th Floor,
Research Block A, Chandigarh 160012, India.
Email: devchat1984@gmail.com
Upper Urinary Tract Adenocarcinoma
Arising in Tubular Adenoma—A Rare
Entity: Report of 2 Cases and Review
of Literature
Kaniyappan Nambiyar, MD
1
, Tushar Pandey, MBBS
1
,
Debajyoti Chatterjee, MD, DM
1
, Uma N. Saikia, MD
1
,
and Ravimohan S. Mavuduru, MS, MCh
1
Abstract
Tubular adenoma of the urinary tract is a recently recognized entity, and there is a paucity of clinicopathological
information. We describe 2 rare cases of adenocarcinoma of upper urinary tract arising in the background of tubular
adenoma with high-grade dysplasia. The first case was an extremely uncommon combination of multifocal tubular
adenomas involving ureter and renal pelvis and adenocarcinoma of kidney in a patient with renal calculi. The second
case was of adenocarcinoma of kidney arising from tubular adenoma of renal pelvis in the right moiety of horseshoe
kidney. There was no microsatellite instability. These findings indicate, probably, an adenoma-carcinoma pathway is also
followed in the urinary tract similar to the gastrointestinal tract. To the best of our knowledge, no such observations are
reported in the English literature previously.
Keywords
urinary tract polyp, tubular adenoma, adenocarcinoma, horseshoe kidney, immunohistochemistry