Urothelial-type adenocarcinoma of the prostate mimicking metastatic colorectal adenocarcinoma

Adenocarcinoma arising in urinary bladder or prostatic urethra is uncommon. When they occur, the tumor can be mistaken for metastatic lesions, especially from the colon. Here we report the fifth case of a primary urothelial-type adenocarcinoma arising in the prostate which showed enteric differentiation. The patient was a 55 year-old male whose prostatic needle core biopsy showed a high grade adenocarcinoma which was initially thought to be metastatic colon cancer. A follow-up colonoscopy was unremarkable. Subsequent prostatectomy revealed a high grade adenocarcinoma which was positive for cytokeratins 7 and 20, carcinoembryonic antigen, CDX2, and high molecular weight cytokeratin, and negative for prostate specific antigen, prostate specific acid phosphatase and AMACR. A diagnosis of urothelial-type adenocarcinoma of the prostate was rendered. We review the literature regarding this entity, and discuss the differential diagnosis, emphasizing utility of immunohistochemistry in making the diagnosis. Finally, we speculate on the behavior of these rare tumors.