Urethral Cancer

Urethral Cancer Location and Histology

Very rare with less than 2000 reported cases.  

​5-year survival is 80% for stage I, 50% for stage II, 30% for stage III, and 10% for stage IV. Poor prognostic factors include proximal urethra involvement, stage T2 or higher, lymph node involvement, and advanced age. (1,2)

Urethral carcinoma is more common in women, and the proximal urethra drains mostly to external iliac, then to hypogastric and obturator nodes whereas the distal urethra and labia drain to superficial then deep inguinal nodes. (3)

2016 TNM/AJCC (8th ed) Urethral Cancer Staging

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1. Rabbani, F. Prognostic factors in male urethral cancer. Cancer 2011; 117 (11): 2426.
2. Champ, C. E., Hegarty, S. E., Shen, X. et al. Prognostic factors and outcomes after definitive treatment of female urethral cancer: a population-based analysis. Urology 2012; 80 (2): 374.
3. Sharp DS, Angermeier KW: Tumors of the urethra, in Wein AJ, Kavoussi LR, Novick AC, Partin AW, Peters CA (eds): CAMPBELL-WALSH UROLOGY, ed 11. Philadelphia, Elsevier, 2015, vol 1, chap 38, pp 885-886.