Anorectal cancer treatment

Rectal cancer treatment options include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and active surveillance. Learn more about the treatment of newly diagnosed and recurrent rectal cancer in this expert-reviewed summary. Treatment for rectal cancer is based largely on the stage (extent) of the cancer , although other factors can also be important. Stage rectal cancers have not grown beyond the inner lining of the rectum.

You can usually be treated.

Your doctor may talk about your “stage” of rectal cancer. These stages are a lot like those for colon cancer, but because the tumor is much lower in the large intestine, treatment options may. The type of treatment your cancer care team will recommend depends on the type of anal cancer , where it is, and how far it has spread (the stage).

Most experts agree that treatment in a clinical trial should be considered for anal cancer that has spread beyond the anus or if standard treatment isn. Anal cancer is a cancer which arises from the anus, the distal opening of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms may include bleeding from the anus or a lump near the anus. Other symptoms may include pain, itchiness, or discharge from the anus.

A change in bowel movements may also occur.

Anorectal symptoms and complaints are common and may be caused by a wide spectrum of conditions. The onset of the disease occurs with symptoms such as discomfort, mucus, bloo anal itching. That is, symptoms of rectal cancer are common to various diseases of the rectum and the anal canal, so early diagnosis is of primary importance in the treatment of the disease. Pain in the anus treatment. Typically colonoscopy is done: whenever rectal bleeding occurs, even in patients with obvious hemorrhoids or known diverticular disease, coexisting cancer must be ruled out.

Cancer cells can also spread from the rectum to the lymph nodes on their way to other parts of the body. Like colon cancer , the prognosis and treatment of rectal cancer depends on how deeply the cancer has invaded the rectal wall and surrounding lymph nodes (its stage, or extent of spread). The American Society of Clinical Oncology estimates that 3cases of anal cancer will be.

Ultimately, given the variability in anatomic and histologic transition between the rectum and anus among patients, for tumors occurring in the anorectal region, it is the pathologic classification that determines diagnosis, staging, and treatment of that cancer. Showing for CANCER OF ANORECTAL. Clinical features, staging, and treatment of anal cancer View in Chinese … and many of these tumors represent rectal cancer with downward spread. Determination of the anatomic site of origin of carcinomas that overlap the anorectal junction can be problematic.

Anorectal Cancer : Critical Ana-tomic and Staging Distinctions That Affect Use of Radiation TherapyAlthough rectal and anal cancers are anatomically close, they are distinct entities with different histologic features, risk factors, stag-ing systems, and treatment pathways. Radiation therapy is an integral part of treatment of anal and rectal cancer. The dose, timing of treatment, target volumes, and intent of treatment—neoadjuvant, adjuvant, definitive, or palliative—often differ considerably between anal and rectal cancer and can also differ according to stage and histologic findings.

Anorectal melanoma is a rare tumor with an extremely poor prognosis. It represents less than of all melanomas and accounts for ~ of anal malignancies.

The clinical diagnosis of anal melanoma is, at best, challenging. Patients often present with nonspecific complaints such as rectal bleeding (most common) or anal pain. Chemotherapy and radiation are generally the first line of treatment for anal cancers. Radiation may be administered externally, or internally using radioactive seeds or catheters placed in or near the cancer.

The most common anorectal cancer is adenocarcinoma. Squamous cell (nonkeratinizing squamous cell or basaloid) carcinoma of the anorectum accounts for to of distal large-bowel cancers. Basal cell carcinoma, Bowen’s disease (intradermal carcinoma), extramammary Paget’s disease, cloacogenic carcinoma, and malignant melanoma are less. A multidisciplinary approach that includes surgery, medical oncology, and radiation oncology is required for optimal treatment of patients with rectal cancer. This topic review will cover clinical features, staging, and treatment of anal cancer , both squamous cell and the less common adenocarcinomas.

Primary rectal squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), which are very rare, can be difficult to distinguish from anal cancers, and they should be treated according to the same approach as anal cancer.