Adenocarcinoma of the anal ducts. A series of 21 cases.

The records of 21 patients treated for adenocarcinoma of the anal ducts between 1943 and 1982 were reviewed. The patients were followed until death or current status in April 1987. The median follow-up period was eight months (range, 3 to 144 months). Fifteen patients had an erroneous diagnosis made at first physician visit resulting in a median doctor's delay of 14 months (range, 3 to 24 months) before correct treatment was carried out. Nine of the tumors were localized perianally (ischiorectal space), seven anally, and five in a fistula-in-ano. Tumors localized anally were significantly smaller and had a significantly shorter history than perianally or fistula-in-ano localized tumors (P less than .05 for each localization). Three patients with anal tumors had their diagnosis made accidentally by routine histologic examination of an excised hemorrhoid. First examination revealed distant metastases in 13 patients and follow-up examination revealed regional or distant metastases in seven patients. Modes of treatment were wide local excision (N = 3), abdominoperineal resection (N = 3), colostomy (N = 9), and radiotherapy (N = 2). Twenty of the 21 patients died within 18 months due to the cancer. One long-term survivor was observed; the patient was alive 12 years after local excision of the tumor without evidence of recurrent disease. The crude five- and 10-year survival was only 4.8 percent.