Low grade transitional cell carcinoma of the urethra successfully treated with only intraurethral instillation of Mitomycin-C

Abstract

Urethral cancer is very rare disease, accounting for less than 0.5% of incidences of malignancies. Data on its management are scarce due to the rare nature of the cases. We present a 34-year-old man, who presented to our hospital with a month history of hematuria. He had no lower urinary tract symptoms and no significant risk factors for urothelial cancer. He was evaluated and found to have lesions in the posterior urethra on urethrocytoscopy, biopsy of which revealed a low-grade urothelial cancer. He was counselled and had 6 courses of intraurethral instillation of 40mg of Mitomycin-C diluited in 50mL of saline held in the urethra with penile clamp for 30 minutes. The hematuria stopped after the second course, a repeat urethrocystoscopy 6 months after the completion of the chemotherapy, showed resolution of the lesion and repeat biopsy showed no evidence of malignancy. However, the patient developed short segment partial penile urethral stricture that was treated with dilatation. In conclusion, low-grade urothelial cancer of the urethra can be successfully cured with Intraurethral instillation of Mitomycin-C, without prior transurethral resection.