Myoepithelial carcinoma is a neoplasm that classically arises in the parotid glands, nasopharynx, paranasal sinus, and nasal cavity of the head and neck. It rarely arises in other organs or soft tissues and involvement of genitourinary organs is distinctly rare. We describe a case of a 21-year-old male, presenting with nausea, weight loss, and worsening suprapubic pain over 3 months, found to have a large mass at the dome of the bladder. Partial cystectomy was ultimately performed revealing myoepithelial carcinoma of the bladder. The patient is free of disease at four years without the need for systemic therapy.

Bladder cancer is a commonly encountered malignancy of the genitourinary tract. Bladder cancer is categorized as high or low grade depending on histological analysis. Low grade urothelial cell carcinoma has an indolent clinical course as compared to high grade, with low rates of progression of disease. We present a case where a patient was identified to have low grade bladder cancer and subsequently found to have low grade bladder cancer metastases to the lung and liver. Although uncommon, low grade urothelial cell carcinoma has the potential for progression and metastasis, highlighting the importance of regular follow-up and surveillance.

Tenascin-C is a large, multimodular, extracellular matrix glycoprotein that exhibits a very restricted pattern of expression but an enormously diverse range of functions. Here, we discuss the importance of deciphering the expression pattern of, and effects mediated by, different forms of this molecule in order to fully understand tenascin-C biology. We focus on both post transcriptional and post translational events such as splicing, glycosylation, assembly into a 3D matrix and proteolytic cleavage, highlighting how these modifications are key to defining tenascin-C function.