Urethral cancer (patient information)

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Urethral cancer
Overview
What are the symptoms?
What are the causes?
Who is at highest risk?
When to seek urgent medical care?
Diagnosis
Treatment options
Where to find medical care for Urethral cancer?
What to expect (Outlook/Prognosis)?
Possible complications
Prevention
Urethral cancer On the Web
Ongoing Trials at Clinical Trials.gov
Images of Urethral cancer
Videos on Urethral cancer
FDA on Urethral cancer
CDC on Urethral cancer
Urethral cancer in the news
Blogs on Urethral cancer
Directions to Hospitals Treating Urethral cancer
Risk calculators and risk factors for Urethral cancer

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Shanshan Cen, M.D. [2]

What are the symptoms of Urethral cancer?

Signs of urethral cancer include bleeding or trouble with urination.

These and other signs and symptoms may be caused by urethral cancer or by other conditions. There may be no signs or symptoms in the early stages. Check with your doctor if you have any of the following:

• Trouble starting the flow of urine.
• Weak or interrupted ("stop-and-go") flow of urine.
• Frequent urination, especially at night.
• Incontinence.
• Discharge from the urethra.
• Bleeding from the urethra or blood in the urine.
• A lump or thickness in the perineum or penis.
• A painless lump or swelling in the groin.

Who is at highest risk?

Anything that increases your chance of getting a disease is called a risk factor. Having a risk factor does not mean that you will get cancer; not having risk factors doesn’t mean that you will not get cancer. Talk with your doctor if you think you may be at risk. Risk factors for urethral cancer include the following:

• Having a history of bladder cancer.
• Having conditions that cause chronic inflammation in the urethra, including:

• Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including human papillomavirus (HPV), especially HPV type 16.
• Frequent urinary tract infections (UTIs).

Treatment options

There are different types of treatment for patients with urethral cancer. Four types of standard treatment are used: Surgery Radiation therapy Chemotherapy Active surveillance

New types of treatment are being tested in clinical trials. Patients may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial. Patients can enter clinical trials before, during, or after starting their cancer treatment. Follow-up tests may be needed.

Sources

http://www.cancer.gov/types/urethral/patient/urethral-treatment-pdq