Metastasis to Sartorius Muscle from a Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer

Abstract

Bladder cancer constitutes the ninth most common cancer worldwide and approximately only 30% of cases are muscle invasive at initial diagnosis. Regional lymph nodes, bones, lung, and liver are the most common metastases from bladder cancer and generally from genitourinary malignancies. Muscles constitute a rare site of metastases from distant primary lesions even though they represent 50% of total body mass and receive a large blood flow. Skeletal muscles from urothelial carcinoma are very rare and up to date only few cases have been reported in the literature. We present a rare case of 51-year-old patient with metastases to sartorius muscle 8 months after the radical cystectomy performed for a muscle invasive bladder cancer.

Physical activity counteracts tumor cell growth in colon carcinoma C26-injected muscles: an interim report

“…However, clinical reports only rarely document events of tumor metastasis occurring in skeletal muscles. So far, tumor metastasis in muscle tissue have been reported only in a few cases of laryngeal squamous carcinoma, 35-37 lung cancer, 38 papillary thyroid cancer, 39 bladder cancer, 40 and gastrointestinal stromal tumor. 41 , 42 …”

Skeletal Muscle Metastases to the Flexor Digitorum Superficialis and Profundus from Urothelial Cell Carcinoma and Review of the Literature

“…Muscles are an unusual site of metastases even though they represent almost 50% of the total body mass [ 3 ] and are highly vascularized [ 4 ]. Several defensive factors have been proposed to create a hostile environment against metastases such as muscle pH, muscle motion, and ability to remove lactic acid accumulation that plays a role against tumor neovascularity [ 6 – 8 ]. Magee and Rosenthal [ 9 ] in 2002 reported that a previously documented local trauma seems to be a risk factor for development of metastasis, probably for an imbalance of local physiological and mechanical factors.…”

“…Skeletal muscles metastases from UCC are, however, very rare and to our best knowledge, only 9 cases have been reported in the English literature [ 2 – 6 ].…”

“…Nabi et al [ 3 ] reported metastases to psoas, rectus abdominis, and adductor of the thigh. Doo et al [ 5 ] and Katafigiotis et al [ 6 ] described two metastases to sartorius, while Nagao et al [ 4 ] proposed the case of one in the gluteus maximus.…”

“…Skeletal muscle metastases from bladder cancer are very rare. In the English literature, only five studies reported [ 2 – 6 ] on skeletal muscle metastases from UCC with clinical-radiological findings.…”