Long-term results achieved by guideline-based stage-dependent management of anal cancer in a non-HIV population

Purpose Therapy of anal cancer follows national and international guidelines that are mainly derived from randomized trials. This study aimed to analyze long-term results of stage-dependent treatment of anal cancer in a non-selected patient cohort. Patients and method All consecutive patients treated for anal cancer between 2000 and 2015 were retrieved from a prospective database. Risk-dependent screening for human immunodeficiency virus showed no infection. Main outcome measure was overall survival with respect to tumor site and treatment. Secondary endpoints were cause-specific survival, stoma free survival, and the rate of salvage operations. Results In total, 106 patients were treated for anal cancer. Of those, 69 (65.1%) suffered from anal canal cancer and 37 (34.9%) from anal margin cancer. Three patients with synchronous distant metastases were excluded from analysis. The majority of patients ( n = 79, 76.7%) were treated by chemoradiotherapy in curative intention. Twenty-two patients underwent local surgery. Five-year overall survival was 73.1% and cause-specific survival at 5 years was 87.4%. Overall, 14 patients (13.6%) needed salvage surgery. Their 5-year cause-specific survival was 57.7%. A permanent ostomy was avoided in 77.7%. Conclusions Treatment of anal cancer results in low rates of salvage surgery and permanent ostomies, when therapy was determined by a multidisciplinary team following national and international guidelines.