Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) for the Treatment of Squamous Cell Anal Cancer with Para-aortic Nodal Involvement

Abstract

Squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal typically presents as locoregional disease, but a small proportion of patients have para-aortic nodal involvement at initial diagnosis. Although traditionally para-aortic involvement is regarded as M1 disease, these patients could potentially be treated definitively with chemoradiation, using Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). Our goal was to determine the rates of toxicity, local control, distant control, and survival in patients treated with this approach.