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

Novel treatment setup for urethral carcinoma radiotherapy: A complete response case report

A homemade personalized penis holder can provide the reproducibility of the penis during urethra carcinoma (UC) radiotherapy.

Penile-preserving surgery for male distal urethral carcinoma followed by buccal mucosa urethroplasty

Introduction

We report a case of distal urethral carcinoma treated with segmental urethral excision and reconstruction by staged buccal mucosa urethroplasty.

Case presentation

A 60‐year‐old man presented with difficulty urinating and a palpable mass on the ventral side of his penis. He was diagnosed as having localized distal urethral carcinoma (cT2N0M0) and underwent penile‐preserving surgery with staged urethroplasty using buccal mucosa as substitute tissue. The pathological diagnosis was squamous cell carcinoma of the urethra (T2) with negative surgical margin. At 2 years of follow‐up, there was no recurrence or metastasis, he could void in a standing position with an acceptable urinary stream, and he found the appearance of his external genitalia acceptable.

Conclusion

In cases of distal primary urethral carcinoma, urethroplasty using buccal mucosa graft could be alternative treatment option providing a better postoperative quality of life.

Contemporary Management of Primary Distal Urethral Cancer

Primary urethral cancer is one of the rare urologic tumors. Distal urethral tumors are usually less advanced at diagnosis compared with proximal tumors and have a good prognosis if treated appropriately. Low-stage distal tumors can be managed successfully with a surgical approach in men or radiation therapy in women. There are no clear-cut indications for the choice of the most appropriate treatment modality. Organ-preserving modalities have shown effective and should be used whenever they do not compromise the oncological safety to decrease the physical and psychological trauma of dismemberment or loss of sexual/urinary function.

The contemporary management of primary urethral carcinoma

Primary urethral cancer is a rare malignancy; the most common histological subtype is squamous cell carcinoma. The aetiology of this cancer is similar to penile cancer and the human papilloma virus (HPV) is thought to be an important factor in tumourigenesis. Surgery with or without chemoradiotherapy is the accepted treatment for primary urethral cancer. Current practice supports penile-sparing surgery, to maximise functional and psychological outcomes. We have reviewed the literature to summarise the pathogenesis and management of primary urethral cancer.

Radical chemoradiotherapy for urethral squamous cell carcinoma: two case reports and a review of the literature

Primary urethral squamous cell carcinoma is rare. Its management is particularly challenging owing to the paucity of evidence from randomised trials to inform practice. We report two male and female cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the urethra, which were treated with concomitant cisplatin and radiotherapy. These cases add to the body of case reports that have shown benefit for concomitant chemoradiotherapy in urethral squamous cell carcinoma. They also illustrate that single agent chemotherapy, namely, cisplatin, may be used successfully with limited toxicities.

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.

Coordinated chemoradiation therapy with genital preservation for the treatment of primary invasive carcinoma of the male urethra

PURPOSE

We evaluated the efficacy of a combined chemoradiation therapy protocol for the primary treatment of primary invasive carcinoma of the male urethra.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

From January 1991 to December 2006, 18 patients with invasive carcinoma of the male urethra referred to our institution were treated with a chemoradiation therapy protocol, consisting of 2 cycles of 5-fluorouracil (1,000 mg/m(2)) on days 1 to 4 and days 29 to 32, and mitomycin-C (10 mg/m(2)) on days 1 and 29 with concurrent external beam radiation therapy (45 to 55 Gy in 25 fractions during 5 weeks) to the genitalia, perineum, and inguinal and external iliac lymph nodes. Kaplan-Meier curves were constructed to assess overall, disease specific and disease-free survival.

RESULTS

The stage and node distribution was T2N0 in 2 patients (11%), T3N0 in 8 (44%), T4N0 in 2 (11%), TXN1 in 1(6%) and TXN2 in 5 (28%). The most prevalent histology was moderately (7 of 18 patients or 39%) or poorly (10 of 18 or 56%) differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (17 of 18 or 95%). Overall 83% (15 of 18) of the patients had a complete response to the primary chemoradiation therapy protocol, and the 5-year overall and disease specific survival rates were 60% and 83%, respectively. Five-year disease-free survival rates after chemoradiation therapy and after chemoradiation therapy with salvage surgery were 54% and 72%, respectively. The 3 nonresponders died of disease after undergoing salvage surgery and 5 of the 15 complete responders (30%) had recurrence. Complex urethral reconstruction was required in 3 of 10 patients (30%) who had prolonged disease-free survival.

CONCLUSIONS

The chemoradiation therapy protocol is an alternative primary treatment modality for invasive urethral carcinoma. It enables an unprecedented potential for organ preservation.

Laparoscopic radical cystoprostatectomy and in block urethrectomy in urethral cancer: initial experience in 2 cases

We introduce laparoscopic radical cystoprostatectomy and in block urethrectomy as an option for the treatment of urethral cancer in men. Using a 5-port transperitoneal approach, a radical cystoprostatectomy is completed laparoscopically with bilateral iliac and pelvic lymphadenectomy. Urethrectomy and extraction of bladder and prostate is performed through a perineal incision. A segment of ileum is isolated and exteriorized to create an extracorporeal ileal conduit and restore ileo-ileal continuity by open standard technique. Bilateral stented uretero-ileal anastomosis is extracorporeally performed. Total operative time ranges from 4.5 to 4.8 hours. Laparoscopic radical cystoprostatectomy with perineal urethrectomy and an extracorporeally made ileal conduit is a feasible technique that can be reproduced. To our knowledge, this is the first report of laparoscopic radical surgery in the treatment of urethral cancer in men.

Squamous cell carcinoma of the male bulbomembranous (proximal) urethra--how should the treatment be done? A case report and review of the literature

The probability of the squamous cell carcinoma of the male bulbomembranous urethra is rare. The patients generally diagnosed as urethral stenosis. It has a high stage because of the late symptoms and diagnosis. Monotherapy and multimodal treatments have been considered. Currently, the standard therapy has not been decided yet.

Clinical outcome of 36 male patients with primary urethral carcinoma: a single center experience

AIM

Retrospective analysis of male urethral carcinoma to assess the best therapeutic approach to the management of this tumor.

METHODS

A review of 36 cases of male urethral carcinoma diagnosed and treated at our center was performed. Clinical features, treatment modality and outcomes were analysed.

RESULTS

The overall median survival time was 55.16 months. The 5-year overall and disease-free survival rate for the cohort was 49% and 23%, respectively. The 5-year survival is 67% for low-stage versus 33% for high-stage tumors and is significantly different (P = 0.001). The survival was 72% for tumors of the distal urethra versus 36% for tumors of the proximal, with a P-value of 0.02.

CONCLUSION

The tumor location and clinicopathological stage were the most important predictors of the disease-free and overall survival. Multimodal approach is necessary for achieving local control especially for proximal and higher stage tumors.

[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.

Male urethral carcinoma: analysis of treatment outcome

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate our experience with primary carcinomas of the male urethra and to analyze the impact of tumor variables and treatment on overall, disease-specific, local recurrence-free, and metastasis-free survival.

METHODS

Between 1958 and 1996, we identified 46 men with primary carcinoma of the bulbar and anterior urethra. The median follow-up was 125 months (1 to 336). The patients were stratified by stage, nodal status, histologic type, treatment, type of surgery, site of disease, year at diagnosis, and smoking status.

RESULTS

The overall survival and disease-specific survival rates at 5 years were 42% and 50%, respectively. The recurrence-free survival and metastasis-free survival rates at 5 years were 51% and 56%, respectively. The overall survival rate was 83% for superficial disease versus 36% for invasive tumors. The overall survival rate was 26% for tumors of the bulbar urethra versus 69% for tumors of the anterior urethra.

CONCLUSIONS

Current modalities of treatment are ineffective for local control and survival. New treatment strategies are needed for urethral cancer.

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.

Primary adenocarcinoma of the urethra with metastasis to the glans penis: successful treatment with chemotherapy and radiation therapy

Primary carcinoma of the male urethra accounts for less than 1% of malignancies in males. A 54-year-old man with primary adenocarcinoma of the urethra with metastasis to the glans penis and lymphadenopathy in the right groin was treated successfully by combined chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil and cis-platinum) and external beam radiotherapy (total dose of 75 Gy). Short-term remission using multimodal approach with penile preservation was achieved in the present case.