MR staging of anal cancer: what the radiologist needs to know

Anal canal cancer is a rare disease and squamous cell carcinoma is the most common histologic subtype. Traditionally, anal cancer is imaged with CT and PET/CT for purposes of TNM staging. With the increased popularity of MRI for rectal cancer evaluation, MRI has become increasingly utilized for local staging of anal cancer. In this review, we focus on the necessary information radiologists need to know to understand this rare and unique disease and to be familiar with staging of anal cancer on MRI.