Brachytherapy for cancer of the female urethra

Abstract

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.