[Treatment of cancer of the anal canal with combination radiochemotherapy: apropos of 12 cases].

We present 12 patients (3 male, 9 female) aged from 53-88 years with squamous cell cancer of the anal canal treated with combined radiotherapy-chemotherapy (5 FU-mitomycin C); the distribution of the tumours was 2 T4, 6 T3, 3 T2, 1 T1). In 11 patients evaluated, complete remission was obtained in 8 with partial remission in 2 others. In spite of this good result with combined treatment, 4 patients had a recurrence between 9 and 26 months. Five patients survived and 2 died without disease (16-38 month), 3 patients died and one survived with disease. The small series confirms the efficacy of this combination which treated bulky tumours (T3-T4). It is necessary however to compare these results with radiation alone in a randomised trial.