Late recurrence following treatment of anal canal carcinoma

A late pelvic recurrence of a cloacogenic anal canal carcinoma, occurring eleven years after an abdominoperineal resection, is reported in a 61-year old female patient. The primary tumour, 2.5 cm in diameter had infiltrated the rectal wall but did not show any evidence of local lymph node involvement on pathological examination. Recurrence of this disease is frequently considerably delayed, with several cases recurring after 5 or more years. This tendency to late recurrence clearly limits the reliability of short-term survival data. Current concepts concerning the management of malignant tumours of the anal canal are discussed from this point of view.