Urethral cancer: Causes, Types, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention and Cost

Urethral cancer is the development of abnormal cells that divide in the uncontrolled manner and results in the formation of tumors. Urethral cancer is very rare cancer and is more common in males than females. Some people with urethral cancer don’t have any symptoms. Urethral cancer starts with the involvement of urethra lining cells and different types of cancer fall under this category. Urethra is responsible for the transport of urine from bladder. Regular testing of urethral will always help the person to remain updated about the diseases or cancer associated with urethral.

What is Urethral Cancer?

Urethra is the long muscular pipe like structure that is responsible for the urine transport from bladder to outside. The length of urethra is about 8 inches long in males and 1.2 inches long in females. Urethral cancers are the cancerous (malign) cells that form tumors inside the urethra. Cells divide in the controlled manner managed by the genes; any change or mutation in genes can lead to the change in the division patterns and can lead the uncontrolled cell growth. Urethral cancer is the rare type of cancer that accounts 1% of urological cancers. The urethra goes through prostate and penis in males where as in females the tube is quite shorter and ends just above the opening of vagina. Higher risk of urethra cancer occurs in the patients having bladder cancer history and STI’s or HPV. can also the because of the bladder cancer or having the bladder cancer before.

Causes of Urethral Cancer

Urethral cancers don’t have any definitive causes but some risk factors are there which may result the cancer. Here are some risk factors:

Chronic infection or inflammation of urethra.
STD (Sexually transmitted diseases)
HPV (Human papillomavirus)
Urethral stricture
Urethral mass
Race and older age
Urethral diverticulum
Bladder cancer (People having bladder cancer before have more chances)

Types of Urethral Cancer

There are different types of urethral cancers.

Transitional (urothelial) cell carcinoma: This is the most common type of cancer affects the urethra closer to bladder.
Squamous cell carcinoma: Second common type of urethral cancer affects ends of urethra.
Adenocarcinoma: This cancer develops in gland near urethra.

Diagnosis of the Urethral Cancer

Urethral cancer diagnosis can be done by various methods like:

PET-CT Scan (Book Now)

Urinalysis (Book Now)
Biopsy (Book Now)
Digital rectal exam
Pelvic exam
Ureteroscopy
Cystoscopy
Urine cytology
Blood tests (Book Now)

Treatment for Urethral Cancer

Urethral cancer treatment depends on various factors of the patient like location and type of tumor, size of tumor, age of patient and overall health of patient. Some common treatments include:

Surgery: Procedure used to remove the tumor from the urethra.
Chemotherapy: In this procedure, some drugs are used to target the specific sites of cancers to reduce the effect, but the side effects are severe.
Radiation therapy: This approach uses the radiation to limit or kill the cancer cells in the body.

Prevention of Urethral Cancer

Urethral cancer risk can be reduced by following preventive measures:

Practicing safe sex: STD’s are one of the causes for this cancer.
Maintain good hygiene: Maintain hygiene after washroom around the penile and anus.
Tobacco: Avoid consumption of tobacco related products like smoking.
Screening: Get screened regularly by testing.

What is the Cost of the Urethral Cancer Screening Test in Delhi?

The cost of urethral cancer screening test in Delhi depends on the area, healthcare facility and the quality of healthcare provider. You can choose Ganesh Diagnostics for urethral cancer screening tests as they provide best facility, quality, with Government accreditations and having expertise in healthcare at affordable prices and discounts available. (Click to know Discounts)

Why Choose Ganesh Diagnostic?

Ganesh Diagnostic has the expertise in quality healthcare tests and scans from decades, having best in class doctors and facilitation. Ganesh Diagnostic is one of the most reputed and prestigious Diagnostic centres that provides a 24x7x365 days facility. The test results are 100 % accurate which help the patients to get the best and the right treatment for easy recovery. The quality is backed by the NABH and NABL accreditations, NABH is for highest standard care and services provided to patients and NABL reflects the competency of laboratories and equipment at national and international standards. We also provide free urethral sample collection at home for different tests, Get tested and treated well with the best diagnostic centre. Grab the opportunity and book an appointment. (Book Now)

Conclusion

Urethral cancer is the cancer of urethra, hollow muscle which holds urine. There are different types of urethral cancers depending on the type of cell involvement like Urothelial carcinoma, Squamous cell carcinoma, Adenocarcinoma and Small cell carcinoma of urethral. Risk can be reduced by avoiding exposure to excessive harmful radiations, chemicals; smoking and regular screening for the disease can minimize the effect and can be treated at early stage without much damage.

FAQs

What is urethral cancer?

Urethral cancer is uncontrolled growth of cells or tissues in the urethra. It usually involves the inner cell lining of urethra and is more common in males than females..

When are the different types of urethral cancers?

There are different types of urethral cancers like Transitional (urothelial) cell carcinoma, Squamous cell carcinoma and Adenocarcinoma.

How to detect urethral cancer early?

Do not avoid the symptoms related to the urethral cancer and go for regular screening to avoid any delay in diagnosis and treatment of cancer. (Click for screening)

What are the risks associated with tests of urethral cancer?

There are no such risks associated with urethral cancer tests, when conducted in presence of healthcare expert and at good healthcare facility with proper guidelines and protocols.