Genitourinary (GU) cancer includes cancers in the reproductive organs in men and the urinary system of both men and women. The medical abbreviation for the genitourinary system and urological cancer is GU.

Quality cancer treatment depends upon coordination and collaboration between treatment providers and you. We take a team-based approach, bringing together multiple specialists with expertise in the treatment and research of GU cancer.

Genitourinary Multidisciplinary Cancer Clinic

The OSF HealthCare Cancer Institute in Peoria, Illinois, leads our efforts to care for patients with urologic malignancies. We take a team-based approach, bringing together multiple specialists with expertise in the treatment and research of these diseases.

We serve the entirety of an individual — mind, body and spirit. At OSF, we honor individuality with a cancer care plan that’s as unique as you are, provided by our dedicated teams that support you before, during and after treatment.

GU and Urological Cancers We Treat

These cancers of the male reproductive system and the male and female urinary system include:

• Bladder cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Testicular cancer
• Penile cancer
• Prostate cancer

Treatments We Offer

There are many options for treating GU cancers, including: 

• Immunotherapy
• Chemotherapy
• Targeted therapy
• Radiation therapy 
  • External beam radiation
  • Proton beam therapy
  • Brachytherapy
• Surgery – Genitourinary surgery involves procedures that concentrate on the urinary and genital organ tract of the male reproductive system. OSF offers a wide range of genitourinary and urologic surgeries to treat your cancer. 
• Intravesical medication – This is either chemotherapy or a type of immunotherapy that is directly inserted into your bladder, via a foley catheter as outpatient in the office with a specially trained nurse and nurse practitioner.
• Urinary diversion – Is created when there is a need to bypass the normal structures of the urinary system, to bring the urine out of the body in a different way. This might need to be done if the bladder stops working, or there is an interruption in the flow to excrete the urine. Urinary diversions include:
  • Foley catheter – a tube inside your body through which urine flows into an external bag or appliance for drainage from the body. This type of urinary diversion might be necessary if there is an obstruction in the urinary tract due to kidney stones or cancerous tumors.
  • Nephrostomy – A surgical procedure that diverts urine from your kidney to an external collection bag. Nephrostomy can be used when you experience kidney stones or there is a problem with your ureters. Nephrostomies can be temporary or long-term.
  • Ureteral stent – A thin tube that is inserted into the ureter to hold it open. This procedure allows urine to freely flow between your kidney and bladder. A urinary diversion stent goes into the ureter with a camera and then one end of the tube is positioned in your kidney. The other end of the stent is positioned in your bladder.
  • Urostomy with Ileal conduit – A surgically created opening in the skin of the abdomen near your bladder. This opening is also called a stoma. The urostomy will allow urine and other bodily fluids to flow from the body into an external collection bag.
• Hormone therapy – Medications that may be given during your course of prostate cancer treatment, dependent on the Gleason Score of your cancer, that are given to stop the production of testosterone.

If your cancer has not spread to distant parts of your body, treatment will generally include surgery. You may also receive intravesical therapy to stimulate the immune system to fight the disease. In some instances, this treatment makes surgery possible. In other cases, it allows organ-sparing surgery.

In muscle-invasive diseases, you will often get chemotherapy, radiation therapy or both before or after surgery to help shrink the tumor. These treatments are used to kill remaining cancer cells that are not visible to the naked eye.

In circumstances where cancer has spread, it is common to treat it with chemotherapy, immunotherapy or targeted therapy. 

Care Team

Quality cancer treatment depends upon coordination and collaboration between treatment providers and you. Our program offers you a team-based approach, bringing together multiple specialists with expertise in the treatment and research of GU system and urologic oncology.

You will have a dedicated team of radiologists and pathologists who work together to diagnose cancer. 

Our nurse navigators work to ensure that your diagnosis and treatment appointments run smoothly. They also arrange supportive service appointments with counselors, financial navigators and oncology dieticians. 

Along with medical and radiation oncologists, you might require board-certified, specially trained surgeons. 

Other specialized providers and therapists, including pelvic floor therapists and ostomy nurses, work with you after your treatment.

The OSF Cancer Institute in Peoria provides you with additional specialist clinics if needed. Specialized clinics are also available at The OSF Cancer Institute in Peoria. Clinics include:

• High-risk genetic clinic – a team of advanced practice providers who help you with the risk for hereditary cancers.
• Palliative care clinic – a team of physicians and nurses that support you with symptom management.
• Intimacy clinic – Intimacy issues and concerns after surgery or radiation are real and are noted as a major source of distress among cancer survivors. Advanced practice providers, pelvic floor physical therapists and counselors work together to help manage and improve intimacy.