Urothelial and ovarian carcinomas of identical cell types: problems in interpretation. A report of three cases and review of the literature.

Three women, 51-69 years of age with carcinomas of the urinary bladder or ureter, had ovarian tumors of identical cell types 2 to 7 years apart. In two cases the tumors were transitional-cell carcinomas and in the third case, signet-ring-cell carcinomas. It was difficult in the cases of transitional-cell carcinoma to determine whether the ovarian tumors were metastatic or independent primary tumors. Consideration of a variety of features of our two cases and of four similar cases reported in the literature led us to the conclusion that the ovarian tumors were probably metastatic in one case, probably primary in two cases, and of unknown nature in three cases, but some degree of doubt existed in all the cases. The signet-ring-cell tumor in the ovary had the typical features of a Krukenberg tumor. Four of 11 women with signet-ring-cell carcinomas of the bladder have had ovarian metastases.