Female primary urethral carcinoma: A rare case report

INTRODUCTION: Primary tumors of the female urethra are exceedingly rare and account for <0.02% of the malignant disease occurring in women. This disease usually presents late and, hence, has a poor outcome. Early diagnosis is necessary to prevent further metastasis and prevent urinary catheter-dependant. Tumors arising from the distal urethra tend to be early stage and cure rates are high, however lack of knowledge about this disease is notorious, the transmission of knowledge is made only by case reports. CASE PRESENTATION: A 76-years-old woman presented with the chief complaint of lower pelvic pain. The complaintas also accompanied by a burning sensation in the urethra and stranguria, urinary retention, and hematuria. Macroscopic observation revealed the lesion was whitish with vegetative aspect at the urethral meatus, involving the entire urethra. The fragile mass was palpable in distal urethra and external meatus urethra per vaginally and easily bleedings. Laboratory examination of blood chemistry results within normal limit. Urinalysis showed pyuria and hematuria. Urethrocystoscopy findings were whitish lesion with vegetative aspect also fragile mass along the urethra, abnormal bladder neck, and bladder mucous was hyperemis. The histopathological result showed metaplasia squamous cell carcinoma, clear cell carcinoma. She is planned on getting cystouretherectomy (anterior exenteration) later. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: The female urethral carcinoma is a disease with low prevalence with urothelial carcinoma (transitional cell) is the most common histological type (Leão et al., 2016; Adolfsson et al., 2012). Symptoms of urethral carcinoma are varied. The carcinoma spreads initially by local invasion into the periurethral tissue, vagina, and vulva and proximally spread to the bladder neck (Leão et al., 2016; Mittal et al., 2020). Distant metastasis is uncommon (Mittal et al., 2020). The most suitable method for collecting material for biopsy is the urethrocystoscopy. MRI is commonly used for staging. For post-surgical staging, the best investigation is the excretory urography (Gourtsoyianni et al., 2011; Picozzi et al., 2012). The management in vogue are surgical such as tumor excision, radical nephro-ureterectomy or anterior pelvic exenteration with radiotherapy or chemotherapy complementary. This cancer is associated with poor outcomes. Therefore, prognostic factors are important to be known. CONCLUSION: Although female urethral carcinoma is a rare disease entity, clinicians should have strong suspicion of malignancies in patients to make an exact diagnosis. Early radical surgery can achieve better outcomes, although the standard therapy remains controversial.