Chemoradiation for Urethral Cancer – pro
Urethral cancer is very rare, encompassing less than 1% of all malignancies. There are less than 2000 cases in the literature. Optimal management, at present, is not defined and often relies on the limited experience gained from reestrospective study of individual cases and case series. Squamous histology is less common than transitional. Case reports suggest that radiation and chemoradiation are more often used in women than men, in whom surgical treatment is more common.
Eng et al (2003 reported that the patients who survived the longest are ones who received combination therapy that consisted of either chemotherapy with radiation therapy or neoadjuvant chemotherapy with radiation therapy prior to surgery. Cohen in 2008 used 5FU and mitomycine as radiosensitizers.
Cohen MS, Triaca V, Billmeyer B, Hanley RS, Girshovich L, Shuster T, et al. Coordinated chemoradiation therapy with genital preservation for the treatment of primary invasive carcinoma of the male urethra. J Urol. Feb 2008;179(2):536-41; discussion 541
Eng TY, Naguib M, Galang T, Fuller CD. Retrospective study of the treatment of urethral cancer. Am J Clin Oncol. Dec 2003;26(6):558-62.