Brachytherapy on urethral carcinoma

From 1954 to 1992 21 patients with primary urethral carcinoma were attended at A.C.Camargo Hospital - Fundacao Antonio Prudente - Sao Paulo. There were 17 female and 4 male with a median age of 58 years old. Eight patients received surgery, 8 radiation therapy and 5 were treated with palliative intention or were not treated. Patients treated by radiotherapy received 60 Gy to 80 Gy. Three patients were submitted to exclusive brachytherapy, 4 to the association of external beam and brachytherapy and 1 to external radiotherapy. Interstitial techniques were employed in 5 patients and intraluminal brachytherapy with special applicator in 2. Seven of 8 patients (87.5%) had local control and disease free survival with a minimum follow-up 4 years. Late effects were not observed. Primary urethral carcinoma is a curable disease by radiotherapy and the association of external irradiation and brachytherapy is the ideal approach. (author)