Effective treatment of anal cancer in the elderly with low-dose chemoradiotherapy.
Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is accepted as the standard initial treatment for squamous cell anal cancer. However, frail elderly patients cannot always tolerate full-dose CRT. This paper reports the results of a modified regimen for this group of patients. In all, 16 patients with biopsy-proven squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal or margin and performance status or co-morbidity precluding the use of full-dose CRT were included in this protocol. The median age was 81 (range 77-91). Patients received a dose of 30 Gy to the gross tumour volume plus 3 cm margin in all directions. Concurrent chemotherapy comprised 5-fluorouracil 600 mg m(-2) given over 24 h on days 1-4 of radiotherapy. The treatment was well tolerated. All 16 patients completed treatment as planned. Only one patient experienced any grade 3 toxicity (skin). The local control at a median follow-up of 16 months was 73% (13 out of 16). The overall survival was 69% and disease-specific survival 86%. This is a well-tolerated regimen for elderly/poor performance patients with anal cancer, which can achieve high rates of local control and survival. Longer follow-up will determine whether these encouraging results are maintained.
Charnley
N
N
Leeds Cancer Centre, Cookridge Hospital, Hospital Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS16 6QB, UK.
Choudhury
A
A
Chesser
P
P
Cooper
R A
RA
Sebag-Montefiore
D
D
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001005:Anus Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016330:Frail Elderly; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D005472:Fluorouracil