La chimioradiothérapie dans le traitement du cancer du canal anal

Summary treatment of anal canal carcinoma, since the work of Nigro, the 5-fluorouracil-mitomycin C regimen is considered standard when applied concomitently with radiotherapy. Surgery is used mainly to salvage the failures after irradiation. Two randomized European trials (EORTC, UKCCCR) have shown that the 5-fluorouracil-mitomycin C combination improves local control but not overall survival. The RTOC-ECOG trial has shown that mitomycin C improves local control when compared to 5-fluorouracil alone. This chemotherapy is responsible for a toxic death in 2% of cases. The 5-fluorouracil-cisplatin regimen will posibly represent an alternative to the 5-fluorouracil-mitomycin C. Ongoing trials will help to answer this question.