Anal Cancer

Research

Ongoing research is essential in the fight against cancer. Many of today's advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment result from research conducted during the past 30 years.

Cancer research is multifaceted and often interrelated. Laboratory-based research is the study of cancer cells and the biological mechanisms within those cells to better understand the origin and growth of cancer. Translational research involves researchers and clinicians determining how laboratory results may be applied to benefit people with cancer diagnostically and therapeutically. Population science examines large groups of individuals to find patterns within specific cancers and thereby gain greater understanding to prevent, detect and control them.

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, is actively involved in those areas of research. The center's experienced scientists, physicians and clinical researchers investigate all aspects of cancer. The result is new, improved ways to care for cancer patients.

Publications

Selected articles written by Mayo Clinic investigators about treatment of anal cancer include:

Boman BM, O'Connell MJ, Moertel CG, Scott M, Beart RW, Gunderson LL, Spencer RJ, and Weiland LH. Cancer of the Anal Canal: The Mayo Clinic Experience 1950-1976. Cancer 54:114-125, 1984.

Gunderson LL, Goldberg R, Haddock MG, Burch PA, Nelson H. Anal Cancer. Section in Alimentary Cancer. (Ed) P Rubin, WB Saunders. Clinical Oncology, 8th Edition. pp 747-764, 2001.

Gunderson LL, Haddock MG, Gervaz PA, Martenson JA, Nelson H. Rectal and Anal Cancers. Chapter ll in Conformal Radiotherapy Planning: Selection and Delineation of Lymph Node Areas. (Ed) V Gregoire, P Scalliet, KK Ang. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg. Pp 187-203, 2003.

Gunderson LL, Martenson JA, Smalley SR, Garton GR. Lower Gastrointestinal Cancers: Rationale, Results, and Techniques of Treatment. In Lymphatics and Cancer: Controversies in Oncologic Management. (Ed) J. Meyer, J. Vaeth. Front. Rad. Ther. Oncol, 28:140-154, 1994.

Haddock MG, Martenson JA. Anal Carcinoma. In Clinical Radiation Oncology. (Ed) Gunderson LL and Tepper JE. Churchill Livingstone/Harcourt Sciences. Pp 747-761, 2000

Martenson JA, Gunderson LL. External Radiation Therapy Without Chemotherapy in the Management of Anal Cancer. Cancer, 71:1736-1740, 1993.

Martenson JA, Haddock MG, Gunderson LL. Colorectal and Anal Cancer. Chapter 19 in Technological Basis of Radiation Oncology. (Ed) S. Levitt, R. Potish, F. Khan, C. Perez. 3rd Edition Williams & Wilkens. Pp 335-347, 1999.

Martenson JA, Lipsitz S, Wagner H, et al. Phase II trial of radiation therapy, 5-fluourouracil and cisplatin in patients with anal cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 32:158, 1995.