Primary Management of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Anal Canal: A 30-year Community Hospital Experience

ABSTRACT

We reviewed outcomes of 41 patients treated with curative-intent radiotherapy for anal canal carcinoma at a community hospital between 1985 and 2015. Twenty-six (63%) presented with stage I or II disease while 15 (37%) had stage III. Thirty-seven received definitive chemoradiation and 4 radiotherapy alone. Thirteen (31.7%) received ≤59.4Gy. Thirty-two (78%) were treated with 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy while 9 (22%) received intensity-modulated radiotherapy. At 5 years, local control, regional control, freedom from distant metastasis, cause-specific survival, and overall survival were 80%, 98%, 88%, 77%, and 51%. Of those who received >59.4Gy, local control and overall survival were not improved.

KEYWORDS:

• Radiation therapy
• Squamous cell carcinoma
• Anal canal
• Outcomes

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Jessica Kirwan and Judy Tran for helping edit and prepare the manuscript for publication.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.