Management of urachal cancer: A consensus statement by the Canadian Urological Association and Genitourinary Medical Oncologists of Canada.

Abstract

The urachus is a fibrous remnant of the allantois. After birth, it remains throughout life as the medial umbilical ligament running from the apex of the bladder to the umbilicus but without any further physiological role. First described by Begg in 1931, urachal cancer is a rare pathology representing less than 1% of bladder cancers.1 Usually located on the serous side of the bladder apex, these tumors are classically silent because of their extravesical and extraperitoneal location. Therefore, most patients present with local invasion or metastatic disease and, thus, are detected at a higher stage. Based on its rarity, there have been no large, prospective, randomized trials in urachal cancer and there are no evidence-based guidelines on the management of this disease. The existing evidence in the medical literature is derived from case series. In this article, led by the Genitourinary Medical Oncologists of Canada (GUMOC), we aim to review the literature of this rare disease in order to establish a Canadian consensus statement on the management of urachal cancer. To our knowledge, there is no other consensus statement available.