Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Address for correspondence and reprint requests: Juan Lucas Poggio, M. Squamous cell carcinoma of the anus SCCA is a rare tumor.
However, its incidence has been increasing in men and women over the past 25 years worldwide. Risk factors associated with this cancer are those behaviors that predispose individuals to human papillomavirus HPV infection and immunosuppression. Anal cancer is generally preceded by high-grade anal intraepithelial neoplasia HGAIN , which is most prevalent in human immunodeficiency virus-positive men who have sex with men.
High-risk patients may benefit from screening. Twenty percent of patients have no symptoms at the time of presentation. Treatment of anal cancer prior to the s involved an abdominoperineal resection. However, the current standard of care for localized anal cancer is concurrent chemoradiation therapy, primarily because of its sphincter-saving and colostomy-sparing potential.
Studies have addressed alternative chemoradiation regimens to improve the standard protocol of fluorouracil, misogynic, and radiation, but no alternative regimen has proven superior. Surgery is reserved for those patients with residual disease or recurrence. It is believed that anal dysplasia behaves similarly to cervical dysplasia and it is likely that high-grade AIN is the precursor of SCCA.
Although cytologic screening in cervical cancer is applied to prevent malignant progression, the same rationale is being applied for high-grade AIN HSIL , whose treatment may prevent malignant transformation to SCCA.
