[The treatment of cancer of the anal area with radiotherapy. An analysis of the authors' personal experience].

The treatment of anal canal carcinoma is very difficult and great care must be taken in planning therapy because this type of cancer is potentially curable. From 1982 through 1989 we treated 16 patients with carcinoma of the anal canal. All patients were evaluable for toxicity and 14/16 for response after treatment. Of the 12 patients who underwent irradiation alone and were N0 M0, 8 are alive with no evidence of the disease, 4 had a recurrence which was treated with radical surgery, and 2 underwent palliative treatment alone. Therapy toxicity was not relevant in most cases and our results are in agreement with those reported in the literature.