Granular cell tumors of the urinary bladder

Abstract

Background: Granular cell tumors (GCTs) are extremely rare lesions of the urinary bladder with only nine cases being reported in world literature of which one was malignant. Generally believed to be of neural origin based on histochemical, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural studies; they mostly follow a clinically benign course but are commonly mistaken for malignant tumors since they are solid looking, ulcerated tumors with ill-defined margins.

Granular cell tumor of the urinary bladder

“…[7,13,14] Because of the predominantly benign course of the GCTs, conservative surgical treatment by transurethral resection taking care to leave clear surgical margins is sufficient and more radical resections are not required. [1][2][3]15] In conclusion, GCT is an unusual lesion of the urinary bladder. To differentiate this benign tumor from more common urothelial lesions, careful histomorphological examination and appropriate immunohistochemical studies are necessary.…”

“…There are very few cases of granular cell tumor of the urinary bladder reported in the literature. [1][2][3][4] GCTs show a mild predominance in females and are most often seen between the ages of 30-60 years. The majority of the congenital cases reported are located in the gingiva.…”

“…[2,10] There are 17 reported cases of GCTs of the urinary bladder in the literature, and only 2 of them are malignant. [3,11] It is important to make a differentiation between benign and malign granular cell tumors because of the difference in their treatment protocols. Malingnancy features in GCT include necrosis, high mitotic activity, high Ki-67 index, spindling tumor cells, vesicles with large nucleoli and muscle invasion.…”

“…[1] However, GCTs in other locations (vulva, breast, larynx, esophagus, anal canal, extrahepatic bile ducts, gallbladder, heart, lacrimal gland, lung, parotid gland, tongue and thyroid) have also been reported. [2][3][4][5][6][7] The bladder is a rare location. There are very few cases of granular cell tumor of the urinary bladder reported in the literature.…”

Clinicopathologic Features of Benign Neurogenic Tumor of Urinary Bladder

“…8 Most tumors are benign but may rarely recur after excision, and 2 cases of malignant granular cell tumor of the urinary bladder have been reported. 3,9,10 Benign neurogenic tumors involving the urinary bladder are a very rare and heterogeneous disease group. The clinical and radiological diagnosis is sometimes difficult because of their rarity, and even a pathological diagnosis because of the histological similarities of each disease, especially in a needle biopsy specimen, can be difficult too.…”