Squamous cell carcinoma of the anus: a twenty-five year retrospective

Squamous cell carcinoma of the anus (SCCA), an aggressive and often fatal malignancy, has traditionally been treated with surgery. In recent years, however, nonoperative therapy has emerged as an alternative to operation. Twenty five years of experience with SCCA at this institution were reviewed to examine the presentation and outcome of a population treated primarily with surgery. Forty two patients, including 26 women and 16 men, had a mean age of 56 years. SCCA was usually heralded by a mass, bleeding, or pain and was associated with chronic perianal disease in 25.8%. Symptoms were present for an average of 11 months. Among the patients in this review, 92.3 per cent underwent radical surgery, while 11.9 per cent had radiation as their primary therapy following palliative surgery or local excisions for biopsy. Actuarial 5-year-survival for the entire group was 45.5 percent; all patients with nodal or disseminated disease at diagnosis have died. Patients with perianal lesions fared no better than those with anal tumors, probably due to the unusually large perianal tumors in this series. To diagnose SCCA at its earliest stage, a high index of suspicion must be maintained when dealing with anal and perianal lesions, especially if the abnormality is chronic. When compared with reported advances in combined therapy, it is likely that in most cases surgery alone no longer offers optimal treatment for SCCA.