Acute and Chronic Complications After Treatment of Locoregional Anal Cancer: Prevention and Management Strategies

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Leah Katz Department of Radiation Oncology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York

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David P. Horowitz Department of Radiation Oncology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York

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Lisa A. Kachnic Department of Radiation Oncology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York

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Definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for anal cancer spares patients the morbidity of a colostomy surgery and optimizes cancer outcomes. CRT, however, has introduced a unique acute and chronic toxicity profile, which has greatly improved over the years with the introduction of advanced radiotherapy techniques. This article provides the multidisciplinary care team with practical tools to mitigate and manage acute and chronic complications from definitive treatment of anal cancer.

Submitted December 9, 2022; final revision received April 28, 2023; accepted for publication May 31, 2023.

Disclosures: Dr. Kachnic has disclosed participating in research for Varian; serving on a data safety monitoring board for Beta Innovations; serving as a principal investigator for Varian; and receiving royalty income from UpToDate. The remaining authors have not received any financial consideration from any person or organization to support the preparation, analysis, results, or discussion of this article.

Correspondence: Leah Katz, MD, MPH, Department of Radiation Oncology, Columbia University Medical Center, 630 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032. Email: lk2563@cumc.columbia.edu
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