Clinicopathologic characteristics of anal cancer

Purpose: This study was performed to evaluate clinicopathologic features in anal canal carcinoma. Methods: Among the 43 patients who were diagnosed with anal cancer at Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital, from June 1990 to June 2008, 31 patients were analyzed retrospectively. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy was performed on twenty-one patients with anal cancer. Chemotherapy with 5-FU/mitomycin and radiotherapy were started at the same time. An external beam radiation dose to the primary lesion and pelvis was modified from 4,500 to 6,000 cGy. Results: Among the 31 patients with anal cancer, the dominant histologic type was squamous cell carcinoma (n=25), followed by adenocarcinoma (n=6). Twenty-nine (93.5%) of these cancers were located in the anal canal and 2 (6.5%) in the anal margin. Among the 25 patients with squamous cell carcinoma, 20 cases were treated by concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The 5-year survival rate among squamous cell carcinoma cases was 83.3% for the concurrent chemoradiation group and 50.0% for the no concurrent chemoradiation group, which was statistically significant (P=0.05). Among the squamous cell carcinoma patients, there was no significant difference in survival rates between concurrent chemoradiation group (n=17) and concurrent chemoradiation with surgical resection group (n=8) (87.5% vs 68.8%; P=0.596). Conclusion: In the squamous cell carcinoma treatment, concurrent chemoradiation therapy can offer better outcomes.