A brief review on the diagnostic and therapeutic principles of primary urethral cancer

OBJECTIVE: Primary urethral carcinoma (PUC) is a rare malignant carcinoma but with limited therapeutic options. This review aims to provide an overview of the current strategies on this patient settings. METHODS: Recent literature ranging from January 1987 and December 2021 was assessed through PubMed search to assess the diagnostic and therapeutic principles of PUC. RESULTS: A complete of examination including cystoscopy, imaging, and biopsy should be conducted for these patients. Once diagnosed, the clinical decision of PUC should be made according to the tumor location, pathological pattern, and extent of the tumor. For patients with superficial and distal urethral lesions, organ sparing approaches or radical reconstructive procedures can be utilized. While for more advanced disease or nodal involvement, an optimal multimodal treatment strategy consisted of surgery and radiochemotherapy should be adopted. For patients with urothelial carcinoma of the prostate, the management including transurethral resection of the prostate followed by bacille Calmette-Guerin or radical cystoprostatectomy should depend on the infiltration depth of PUC. CONCLUSION: A complete of examination is important for the diagnosis of PUC. The management of PUC should be determined by the location, pathological pattern, and extent of the tumor. More multi-institutional collaborations should be held to investigate better treatment modalities for PUC.