What Is Anal Cancer?

Anal cancer is a certain disease in which malignant cells start to form in the tissues of the anus area. This type of cancer is quite uncommon. It is one of the most serious consequences of HPV in many men.

Anal cancer is caused by high-risk strains of HPV that only can be detected with an anal "pap test". Anal cancer is not exactly a topic that is heard often , or shown on the headlines of your daily newspaper. Even though anal cancer can affect any individual, it is most common in men who have anal intercourse. Even though this type of cancer is the only cancer that happens to be more common in men than in women, women can become infecte with the disease as well.

Even though anal cancer is quite rare, accounting for approx. 1% of gastrointestinal malignancies, approx. 4,000 fresh cases are being diagnosed yearly in United States. This information is according to the American Cancer Society.

Recent evidence suggests that the incidence of anal cancer is between 4-10x greater in gay men than cervical cancer is in all women. The incidence of anal cancer is much higher in men and women infected with the HIV virus than in the general public.

Treatment

Treatment of stage IIIA anal cancer may include External-beam radiation therapy with chemotherapy. Treatment of stage IV anal cancer may include surgery as palliative therapy to relieve symptoms and improve the overall quality of life. Treatment of anal cancer prior to the 1970's involved abdominoperineal resection, but the standard of care is now concurrent chemoradiation therapy, with surgery reserved for those patients with residual disease. There are many treatment methods for anal cancer. Of course, some are more successful than others are.