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Primary adenocarcinoma of the anal canal

  • Chapter
Management of Rare Adult Tumours

Abstract

Anal tumours represent 5% of all anorectal malignancies [5]. Adenocarcinoma of the anal canal is considered as very rare and more aggressive than epidermoid cancers. It is thought to arise from the stratified columnar epithelium lining the anal glands, which have their openings in the transitional zone of the canal and extend into the submucosa to penetrate the internal sphincter [12, 25, 34]. Current adenocarcinoma management is controversial and experience with this disease remains largely anecdotal or is based on very small series. For some authors, primary abdomino-perineal resection should be considered as “the gold standard” [1, 4, 17, 34]. For others, combined radiochemotherapy, which has been widely reported to be very effective in epidermoid cancers of the anal canal, should be adopted as a possible treatment in certain patients with adenocarcinoma histology [18, 19, 22, 30, 31].

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Authors
  1. Y. Belkacémi
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  2. P. Rouanet
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  3. M. Jafari
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hôpital Henri-Mondor, 51, avenue du Maréchal-de-Lattre-de-Tassigny, 94000, Créteil Cedex, France

    Yazid Belkacémi MD PhD (Professor Radiation Oncology, Deputy Head of the Department of Radiation Oncology) (Professor Radiation Oncology, Deputy Head of the Department of Radiation Oncology)

  2. Centre hospitalier universitaire Vaudoir, Rue du Bugnon, CH-1011, Lausanne, Switzerland

    René-Olivier Mirimanoff MD (Professeur Radiation Oncology, Head of the Department of Radiation Oncology) & Mahmut Ozsahin MD PhD (Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology) (Professeur Radiation Oncology, Head of the Department of Radiation Oncology) &  (Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology)

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© 2009 Springer-Verlag France, Paris

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Belkacémi, Y., Rouanet, P., Jafari, M. (2009). Primary adenocarcinoma of the anal canal. In: Belkacémi, Y., Mirimanoff, RO., Ozsahin, M. (eds) Management of Rare Adult Tumours. Springer, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-2-287-92246-6_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-2-287-92246-6_19

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Paris

  • Print ISBN: 978-2-287-92245-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-2-287-92246-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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