Course Map: Epithelial Tumors: Malignant: Urothelial Carcinoma: Variants of Urothelial Carcinoma: Plasmacytoid Variant

Plasmacytoid Variant
These are not uncommon and, as the name implies, the invasive cells have a striking resemblance to plasma cells [87,122]. Epithelial markers are invariably positive and droplets of cytoplasmic mucin can usually be found in at least a few of the cells. Occasionally, typical signet ring cells will also be present. In-situ carcinoma may or may not be present. If it is, the diagnosis would be "Urothelial carcinoma, plasmacytoid variant." If not, the diagnosis would be "Adenocarcinoma, poorly differentiated plasmacytoid variant."
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	Figure 1: This is a plasmacytoid carcinoma in the lamina propria. Note that several of the cells have a signet ring appearance (arrows). When a bladder plasmacytoma is being considered, it is well to recall that these carcinomas are keratin and, generally, CEA positive.
	Figure 2: This is another case of the plasmacytoid variant--PAS stain with diastase digestion. Several of the cells have droplets of cytoplasmic mucin (arrows).