Treatment Options for Urethral Cancer

Anterior Urethral Cancer
Posterior Urethral Cancer
Urethral Cancer Associated with Invasive Bladder Cancer
Recurrent Urethral Cancer

A link to a list of current clinical trials is included for each treatment section. For some types or stages of cancer, there may not be any trials listed. Check with your doctor for clinical trials that are not listed here but may be right for you.

Treatment of anterior urethral cancer is different for men and women.

For women, treatment may include the following:

• Radiation therapy followed by surgery (anterior exenteration and urinary diversion).
• Surgery (open excision, electro-resection with fulguration, lymph node dissection, or anterior exenteration and urinary diversion).
• Laser surgery.
• External and/or internal radiation therapy.

For men, treatment may include the following:

• Surgery (open excision, electro-resection with fulguration, lymph node dissection, or partial or radical penectomy).
• Laser surgery.
• Radiation therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with anterior urethral cancer. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Treatment of posterior urethral cancer is different for men and women.

For women, treatment may include the following:

• Radiation therapy followed by surgery (anterior exenteration with lymph node dissection and urinary diversion).
• Radiation therapy with or without surgery (other than anterior exenteration and urinary diversion).
• Surgery (other than anterior exenteration and urinary diversion) alone.

For men, treatment may be radiation therapy followed by surgery (cystoprostatectomy, penectomy, lymph node dissection, and urinary diversion).

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with posterior urethral cancer. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Treatment of urethral cancer that develops with invasive bladder cancer may include the following:

• Surgery (cystourethrectomy or cystoprostatectomy).
• Watchful waiting.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with urethral cancer associated with invasive bladder cancer. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Treatment of recurrent urethral cancer that comes back near the urethra depends on the type of treatment the patient received before, as follows:

• Surgery: For patients who were first treated with radiation therapy.
• Radiation therapy with surgery: For patients who were first treated with surgery alone.

Treatment of recurrent urethral cancer that comes back in distant parts of the body is usually a clinical trial of chemotherapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with recurrent urethral cancer. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.