Experience with 79 women with cancer of the urethra suggests that the occurrence of regional-lymph-node and distant metastases is sufficiently low to make probable a relatively high cure rate if the primary tumor is successfully treated. Partial urethrectomy is usually successful in controlling lesions limited to the anterior part of the urethra and equally satisfactory results may be achievable with modern methods of irradiation. For lesions involving the entire urethra, prognosis with either radiation therapy or radical surgery has been poor, but it is possible that improved techniques of irradiation, either alone or in combination with radical surgery, may improve survival. Survival is determined chiefly by the extent of the neoplasm at the time of treatment, thus emphasizing the importance of earlier recognition of these tumors.