[Cloacogenic cancers of the anal canal: a retrospective study of 17 cases].

This study involved 17 cloacogenic cancers classified on the Morson and Jass histological scale and on the TNM clinical classification as T1 (4), T2 (3), T3 (3) and T4 (7) and including 5 N+ cases at the time of diagnosis. Treatment combined radiotherapy and surgery and the overall actuarial survival was 45% after 5 years. These results confirm that the response to treatment of cloacogenic cancers is similar to that of epidermoid cancers, notably with regard to the response to radiotherapy, and that the prognosis depends above all on the initial extent of the cancer. In contrast, cancers showing little or no differentiation (small cell cloacogenic cancers) are distinguished from other duct cancers by their explosive metastatic potential.