Neuroendocrine urethral cancer

Primary urethral cancer is recognized to be a rare malignant tumor which comprises less than 1% of all tumors. In 2008 there were 4292 cases in European Union with potential incidence of 655 new cases per year. A prevalent histological type of primary urethral cancer is the urothelial carcinoma (54-65%), followed by squamous cell carcinoma (16-22%) and adenocarcinoma (1016%). In Europe median of five-year OS has no difference between male and female patients. According to RARECARE (rare tumors observation project), median 1-year and 5-year OS of patients with urethral cancer was 71% and 54% respectively. A more lengthy observation in SEER (National Cancer Institute program - a source of information on epidemiology, prevalence and survival for cancers in USA), which included 1615 cases of primary urethral cancer, reported median 5-year and 10-year OS being 46% and 29% respectively. Cancer-specific survival for 5 and 10 years was 68% and 60% respectively. Multimodal approach to treatment for primary urethral cancer includes radical surgery and chemotherapy with possible adjuvant radiation therapy, which allows to achieve satisfactory long-term survival. Considering a possibility of multiple histological types of urethral cancer in one patient an adequate pathology using all techniques for morphological diagnostics is necessary for guiding treatment algorithm.