Summary about Urethral Cancer in English
When using the bathroom, the urine from your bladder goes into a tube called the urethra. The situation in which cancerous cells develop in the tissue of this urine-carrying tube is called urethral cancer. The urethra crosses the prostate and the penis in men. In women, the tube is shorter and ends just above the opening of the vagina. If you have cancer of the urethra, the cells in the area grow abnormally and are out of control. Doctors do not know what causes this rare form of cancer. More often than 60 years old are more at risk. Your risk may also be higher if you have bladder cancer, frequent urinary tract infections, or sexually transmitted diseases that cause inflammation of the urethra. Urethral cancer has been associated with the human papillomavirus, particularly HPV 16. The HPV vaccine protects against type 16. Doctors recommend it for boys and girls aged 11 to 12 years. But women can get the vaccine up to 26 years old and men up to 21 years old. The clear symptoms of this cancer include bleeding from the urethra or blood in the urine, frequent urination but with the interrupted flow, a lump in the perineum or penis, discharge from the urethra. If it is early diagnosed the treatment is done very easily. Mostly chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery is used to treat it.