Objectives. The best treatment of early stage anal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is under debated. Wide local excision (WLE) may be considered adequate for stage 1 anal margin cancer. This study demonstrates our experience in treatment of patients with SCC over 5 years.
Results. We included 25 patients, 16 male (64%) and 9 female (36%). Twenty-four patients had SCC and 1 patient had adenocarcinoma.
Of this cohort: 10 underwent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) because T3-4 N1-2 M0, 13 underwent only surgery because T1/T2 and 2 patients had CRT and surgery because they already have had anal cancer treated in the past with CRT. Seventeen patients (68%) of this
cohort, including 5 with micro-invasive SCCs, had regular follow-up without recurrences. Four patients (17%) died from metastatic disease and 4 patients (17%) had recurrent disease.
Conclusions. In this small cohort we demonstrated satisfactory results in treatment of SCCs, underlining the effective role of surgery in early stages of SCC. Screening program and follow up were fundamental to identify early stage and recurrent disease. Also we found the
High-resolution video-proctoscopy a valid diagnostic tool.
KEY WORDS: SCC - Treatment - Early stages - High-resolution video-proctoscopy - HIV - Screening.