Inferior pubic rami resection with en bloc radical excision for invasive proximal urethral carcinoma

Management of advanced primary urethral carcinomas

Primary urethral carcinoma (PUC) is a rare malignancy accounting for <1% of genitourinary cancers, with a predilection for men and African-Americans. The sites and histology of urethral carcinoma vary by gender and anatomical location. Squamous cell carcinoma is most common among both genders but adenocarcinomas are noted in 15-35% of cases among women. Obstructive or irritative symptoms and haematuria are common modes of presentation. Clinical evaluation includes cystourethroscopy with biopsy and examination under anaesthesia. Magnetic resonance imaging provides a highly effective method to image the primary tumour while defıning the potential involvement of surrounding structures. Most tumours are localised, with regional metastases to nodal sites seen in up to 30% of cases in both genders, while distant metastases at presentation are rare (0-6%), but occur in up to 40% of cases with recurrent disease. Among men, the two most important prognostic factors are disease location and stage. Low-stage tumours (T1-2) and tumours involving the fossa navicularis or the penile urethra have a better prognosis than higher stage tumours (>T2 or N+) and lesions involving the bulbomembranous urethra. In women, in addition to stage and location, the size of the tumour has also prognostic implications. While surgery and radiation therapy (RT) are of benefit in early stage disease, advanced stage PUC requires multimodal treatment strategies to optimise local control and survival. These include induction chemotherapy followed by surgery or RT and concurrent chemoradiation with or without surgery. The latter strategy has been used successfully to treat other human papillomavirus-related cancers of the vagina, cervix and anus and may be of value in achieving organ preservation. Given the rarity of PUC, prospective multi-institutional studies are needed to better define the optimal treatment approach for this disease entity.

Prognostic factors in male urethral cancer

BACKGROUND

Male urethral cancer is a rare neoplasm, with the published literature consisting of small single-institution retrospective series. As such, there is no objective analysis of prognostic factors and treatment outcome. The author sought to use the population-based Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to evaluate prognostic factors in male urethral cancer.

METHODS

From 1988 to 2006, 2065 men were identified in the SEER database as having primary urethral cancer. Median follow-up was 2.5 years. Cancer-specific and overall survival was computed using the Kaplan-Meier method, and Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to evaluate patient age at diagnosis, year of diagnosis, race, histologic type, grade, T stage, nodal status, M stage, extent of surgery, and type of radiation as potential significant independent predictors of survival.

RESULTS

Overall survival at 5 and 10 years was 46.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 43.9-48.6%) and 29.3% (95% CI, 26.6-32.0%), respectively, whereas cancer-specific survival at 5 and 10 years was 68.0% (95% CI, 65.5-70.5%) and 60.1% (95% CI, 57.0-63.2%), respectively. Advanced age, higher grade, higher T stage, systemic metastases, other histology versus transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), and no surgery versus radical resection were predictors of death and death from disease, whereas adenocarcinoma was associated with a lower likelihood of death and death from disease as compared with TCC. In addition, nodal metastasis was a predictor of death. Surgery had a better outcome than radiation for stage T2 -T4 nonmetastatic disease.

CONCLUSIONS

Age, grade, TNM stage, histology, and extent of surgery were predictive of overall and cancer-specific survival.

Surgery for urethral cancer

Primary urethral cancers represent less than 1% of genitourinary malignancy. Given this is an uncommon disease, there are limited data to guide diagnostic and treatment strategies. Surgical extirpation remains the standard for most patients, with the addition of chemotherapy and radiation therapy in select patients. The surgical approach to urethral cancer depends largely on the location and extent of the tumor.

Carcinoma of the urethra: radiation oncology

Urethral cancer is a rare but aggressive neoplasm. Early-stage distal lesions can be successfully treated with a single modality. Results for definitive radiotherapy using either or both external beam radiation therapy and brachytherapy have shown excellent cure rates in men and women. The primary advantage of radiotherapy is organ preservation. Advanced tumors, however, have poor outcomes with single modality treatment. Results have been improved using a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, chiefly 5-fluorouracil and mitomycin C. Although literature is limited to case reports because of the rarity of the disease, the markedly improved results compared with older results of surgery with or without radiation warrant consideration.

[Metastasic urethral squamous-cell a cancer]

Urethral cancer is an infrequent pathology, less than 1% of the genitourinary tumors. It is more frequent in women (4:1), in the sixth or seventh decade of life. The most frequent histology being squamous cell carcinoma. First signs and symptoms usually are more attributable to benign stricture disease, rather than malignicy. The interval between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis may be as long as three years. Therefore most of these tumors are locally advanced at the time of diagnosis with generally poor prognosis despite aggressive treatment. Therapeutic management varies with the stage and location of the lesion. Because of the rarity of this pathology, no consensus has been reached on treatment modalities, but seems to be that must be a multimodal one, including surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. We present the case of an 80 year-old male, with a diagnosis of urethral squamous-cell cancer, locally advanced at the time of diagnosis. Surgery was not feasible. The patient underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy with evidence of quick progression thereafter.

Surgical treatment for local control of female urethral carcinoma

We reviewed 53 patients (mean age 63 years) who underwent partial urethrectomy (n = 26) or radical extirpation (n = 27) for primary female urethral cancer from 1948 through 1999. Clinical stage, histology, high pathologic stage (3 or 4) and grade, tumor location, nodal status, surgery type, adjuvant therapy, and treatment decade were candidate outcome predictors. The predominant carcinomas were squamous cell (n = 21), transitional cell (TCC) (n = 15), and adenocarcinoma (n = 14). For adjuvant therapy, 20 patients had radiation (8 preoperatively), 2 had radiation + chemotherapy, and 1 had chemotherapy alone. During mean follow-up of 12.8 years, 27 patients had recurrence; 15 local only, 2 distant only and 10 local + distant. Of patients undergoing partial urethrectomy for pT1-3 tumors, 6/27 (22%) had urethral recurrence. Overall, there were no bladder recurrences. Recurrence-free survival +/- standard error (SE) at 10 years was 45 + 8%. Those who recurred had a cancer mortality rate of 71% at 5 years postrecurrence. The estimated 10-year cancer-specific survival (CSS) and crude survival (CS) rates were 60 +/- 8% and 42 +/- 7%, respectively. Pathologic stage was predictive for local recurrence (P = 0.02) and CSS (P = 0.01). Positive nodes on pathology were related to local and distant recurrence and CSS (P = 0.01). Upon review, partial urethrectomy resulted in a high urethral recurrence rate (22%) with no bladder recurrences. These patients may be better served with radical urethrectomy and creation of continent catheterizable stoma.

[Ureteral adenocarcinoma in men: a case report]

Adenocarcinoma of urethra is a rare tumour, which occurs more often in female than in male. The localizations on bulbomenbranous urethra, most frequent, have worse prognostic than those of penile urethra. Because of scarcity of these tumours there is not therapeutic consensus. The treatment is based on the tripod surgery, more or less mutilating, chemotherapy and radiotherapy associated or managed in a separate way. We report the case of a young patient with adenocarcinoma of the posterior urethra treated by a protocol of radio-chemotherapy.

Management of primary urethral cancer

OBJECTIVES

To determine the best therapeutic approach for treatment of patients with urethral cancer according to tumor location and clinical-pathologic stage.

METHODS

A retrospective review of 21 consecutive patients diagnosed with primary urethral carcinoma was performed. Clinical-pathologic staging, treatment modality, and outcome were analyzed.

RESULTS

The overall survival rate was 62%. In patients with clinical Stage Ta-2N0M0 tumors, 8 of 9 patients (89%) are free of disease compared to 5 of 12 patients (42%) with Stage T3-4N0-2M0 tumors (P = 0.03). Best treatment outcome for patients with Stage T3 disease or higher was obtained when multimodality therapy (neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy with or without surgery) was administered, with a disease-free survival rate of 60%.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical-pathologic stage was a strong predictor of disease-free survival rate. For patients with Ta-2N0M0 tumors, multimodality therapy may not be required. Conversely, best treatment outcomes in patients with T3-4N0-2M0 tumors are obtained by administering a multimodal therapy combining chemotherapy and radiation therapy with surgical resection.

Brachytherapy for cancer of the female urethra

Carcinoma of the female urethra is uncommon. The review of literature and our own experience indicates that early distal urethral cancers (squamous and adenocarcinoma) can be treated either with surgery (70-80% 5-year survival) or with radiotherapy (brachytherapy) with excellent results (75% 5-year survival). Early proximal or entire urethral cancers (squamous and adenocarcinoma), if treated surgically, will require exenterative procedures. Alternatively, these cancers can be treated with a combination of external beam and brachytherapy with or without chemotherapy with good results and preservation of organs. Surgery can be used for failures or persistent tumors. Advanced cancers require a multimodality approach, and a combination of radiation and chemotherapy appears to be the optimal way to treat these patients-with surgery to be used for biopsy-proven persistent tumors or recurrences.

Therapy and prognosis for male anterior urethral carcinoma: an update

OBJECTIVE

The scarcity of reports evaluating the effect of current treatment strategies for male urethral carcinoma has prompted a review of our recent experience. Since our last report (1980), we have seen 23 patients with this disease.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective chart review of 23 patients seen in our institution between 1979 and 1990 with this type of cancer.

RESULTS

Fifty-two percent of our patients are alive without evidence of disease, after a mean follow-up of fifty months (range, 5 to 156 months). Treatment analysis indicates that distal urethrectomy and partial penectomy are adequate in controlling local disease for tumors arising in the fossa navicularis and penile urethra, respectively, and that en bloc excision of the penis, scrotum, prostate, and bladder together with resection of the inferior pubic rami, using myocutaneous flaps to cover the surgical defect, can provide long-term disease-free survival for patients whose tumor originates in the bulbomembranous urethra. Use of cisplatin-based chemotherapy resulted in a prolonged survival for patients who presented with metastatic disease.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that the prognosis for patients with urethral carcinoma has improved, and some of the patients are having a prolonged disease-free survival due, in part, to more effective local and regional control and improved chemotherapy.

Carcinoma of male urethra: management of locally advanced disease with combined chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and penile-preserving surgery

Squamous cell carcinoma of the urethra is a rare urologic malignancy. In spite of aggressive management with radical and often times disfiguring surgery and/or radiation therapy, prognosis remains poor. Initial success in treating squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus and anal canal has been reported with a combined radiation and chemotherapy protocol. In hopes for improving the treatment outcome for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the urethra, we have applied the new combination chemotherapy/radiation therapy protocol. Herein, we report the successful downstaging (clinical Stage C to pathologic Stage TO) and treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the anterior urethra with combination chemotherapy/radiation therapy. This was followed with penile-preserving surgery to document local control of disease and to avoid the morbidity of a radical disfiguring operation.

Low dose combined chemotherapy/radiotherapy in the management of locally advanced urethral squamous cell carcinoma

The successful treatment of a patient with bulky squamous cell carcinoma of the urethra using low dose preoperative radiation therapy and concurrent chemotherapy is described. Dramatic rapid tumor response facilitated surgical resection of the remaining microscopic disease. This clinical behavior is remarkably similar to that seen with squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal and esophagus when a similar regimen is used. At the latter tumor sites the successful use of combination radiotherapy and chemotherapy has reduced the morbidity of subsequent surgery, and in selected cases has obviated the need for a radical operation. Further investigation of such combination treatment is warranted for urethral carcinoma.

Primary carcinoma of the distal male urethra: a case treated with lymphadenectomy and interstitial radiation therapy

We report a case of primary squamous cell carcinoma of the distal male urethra with a single inguinal node metastasis. Treatment consisted of unilateral pelvic and inguinal lymphadenectomy, and a combined course of external beam and interstitial radiation therapy to the distal urethra and penis by the Henschke modification of the Paris technique.

Localized urethral cancer in women

The results of treatments for localized carcinoma of the urethra were assessed in 21 consecutive women treated at our institutions over a twenty year period. Only one of the tumors was confined to the distal urethra. Eighty-six percent invaded the periurethral tissues and 24% were known to be associated with regional lymph node metastases. Fifty-seven percent were adenocarcinomas. Five patients refused active therapeutic intervention and expired within one to 30 months following diagnosis. Sixteen patients were treated with extirpative surgery, radiation therapy, or combinations of the two. Four are free of disease at one, four, eleven, and 15 years after treatment. Nine developed pelvic recurrences, two developed pelvic recurrences and distant metastases and one developed distant metastases only from six to 72 months (mean, 19 months) after initial treatment. Eight of these 12 patients died at two to 13 months (mean, 8 months) after secondary treatment, two are alive with residual pelvic tumor, and two are clinically free of disease at 7 and 48 months. Only six patients were known to have distant metastases at the time of death and five of these six had adenocarcinomas. Advanced localized urethral cancer in women is difficult to eradicate and usually fatal.

Carcinoma of deep male urethra

Carcinoma of the deep male urethra is a rare disease. Conservative measures yielding dismal outcomes were standard until 1957, with the report of an 80 per cent five-year survival rate after radical surgery. To assess the value of this surgery, we reviewed all cases of carcinoma of the deep male urethra managed at UCLA Medical Center and its affiliated hospitals between 1952 and 1980. Of the patients managed with radical surgery, 1 died of a myocardial infarction between staged surgical procedures, and 5 died of their disease between twelve and fifty-two months postoperatively (mean survival, 26 months). There were 2 long-term disease-free survivors, yielding a survival rate of 25 per cent. We have also compiled the results of all major series dealing with deep urethral carcinoma published subsequent to the 1957 report. This review of the literature supports the concept that radical extirpative surgery is mandatory in the management of carcinoma of the deep male urethra.