Anal cancer is a type of cancer that starts in your bottom. It develops in your anus, the opening to the exterior at the end of your bowel. It happens when cells in your anus start growing abnormally and out of control, which causes symptoms, such as pain and bleeding from your bottom.
Anal cancer is rare. But more people have got anal cancer in recent years, particularly women.
There are different types of anal cancer, which include the following.
The main cause of anal cancer is thought to be the human papilloma virus (HPV). This is a sexually transmitted virus, which is also linked to cervical cancer and genital warts. You’re more at risk of an HPV infection and anal cancer if you:
There are some other things that can increase your risk of anal cancer. For example, if you have HIV/AIDS or if your immune system is suppressed for some other reason.
Women are more likely than men to develop anal cancer. You’re also more likely to get it if you smoke, and your risk increases as you get older.
The most common symptoms of anal cancer are:
Other symptoms of anal cancer include:
If you have these symptoms and they don’t seem to be getting better, go and see your Doctor. Bleeding from your bottom is a very common symptom linked to lots of other conditions. Most of the time, it’s caused by something less serious such as piles (haemorrhoids). But it’s worth getting checked by a doctor. Don’t put it off – cancers are usually easier to treat if you catch them early.
Your Doctor will ask about your symptoms and examine you. They’ll ask about your medical history too.
Your Doctor will ask about your symptoms and examine you. They’ll ask about your medical history too.
Your Doctor may ask to examine your bottom to check if they can feel anything wrong. They’ll do this by feeling inside your bottom with their finger (they’ll wear a glove and use lubrication). Although it might feel a little uncomfortable, it shouldn’t be painful. Your Doctor may also examine inside your vagina to check if a tumour has spread to here.
Your Doctor may refer you to hospital for further tests. Or they may refer you to see a doctor who specialises in conditions that affect the bowel.
You may have a blood test to check your general health and to rule out other health conditions that could cause your symptoms.
To test for anal cancer, a doctor will put a tube into your bottom to look inside your bowel. They may use one of the following procedures.
You’ll usually have these tests as an out-patient (you won’t need to stay in hospital). They can be uncomfortable but shouldn’t be painful. Your doctor may take a small sample of tissue (a biopsy) during the test. They’ll send this to a laboratory for testing to find out whether the cells are cancerous or not.
You may also have a test under general anaesthesia to allow your doctor to do a more thorough examination and to take a biopsy.
If tests show that you have anal cancer, you’ll need to have more tests to find out how big it is and if it’s spread. This process is known as staging. You may have the following tests in different parts of your body:
A multidisciplinary team (MDT) will manage your treatment. An MDT is a team of healthcare professionals with different specialities, including doctors specialised in diagnosing and treating anal cancers, and specialist nurses. Your treatment will depend on the type of anal cancer you have, and how far it’s spread. Your doctor will discuss what your options are. After you've finished your treatment, you’ll need to have regular check-ups with your doctor.
The most common treatment for anal cancer is a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which is called chemoradiotherapy. This uses medicines and radiation together to destroy cancer cells. You’ll have a treatment plan that’s tailored to your needs, depending on services and guidelines available in your local area.
You’ll usually have your treatment over five weeks, with chemotherapy on the first and last weeks, and radiotherapy throughout. And you’ll usually have two different chemotherapy medicines. You may have these as an injection or as a drip into a vein in your arm. You’ll usually have the radiotherapy every weekday for the five-week treatment period.
You’ll usually have chemotherapy in a day unit at the hospital, and radiotherapy as an out-patient. This means you won’t usually need to stay overnight in hospital. But you will need to be able to travel to the hospital every weekday during your treatment period.
Sometimes, your doctor may recommend you have surgery to remove your cancer. The operation you have will depend on the stage of your cancer.
Your MDT might offer you surgery if your tumour is small and just affects the area around the opening to your bottom (the anal margin). This is called a local excision. A surgeon will remove the tumour along with some normal skin and tissue around it. As it doesn’t involve any of the muscles in your bottom, you should still be able to poo normally after the operation.
Your MDT may advise surgery to remove the cancer if you’ve had chemoradiotherapy that hasn’t worked or if your cancer has come back after treatment. It isn’t very common. In this surgery, which is called abdominoperineal resection, a surgeon will remove your anus, rectum and part of your bowel. It’s often called ‘salvage surgery’ because it’s a second chance of curing your cancer when other treatment has failed.
As part of this operation, you’ll need to have a colostomy. This is when the new end of your bowel is brought out through an opening in your skin and attached to the surface of your tummy (abdomen). The opening is known as a stoma. You’ll need to wear a bag over your stoma, which will collect poo. It may take a while to adjust to living with a stoma, but your doctor or stoma nurse will give you help and advice.
Vaccination against HPV can help to protect against anal cancer. In the UK, this is offered to all children aged 12–13. You can also get the HPV vaccine free through a sexual health clinic if you’re a man who has sex with men, and you’re under 45. Anyone can pay to have the vaccine privately through Doctor.
Other things you can do to reduce your risk of anal cancer include:
You may need to make some changes to your diet while you’re having treatment for anal cancer. Both chemotherapy and radiotherapy can cause diarrhoea – and because you’re likely to have the two treatments together, the diarrhoea can be hard to cope with.
It might help to eat less fiber during your treatment and for a few weeks afterwards while you recover. This means not eating wholegrain cereals or breads, or fruit and vegetables that are high in fibre. Once your digestion has settled down again, you can gradually reintroduce more fibre to your diet.
If you need to have a colostomy, it’s likely you’ll need to make a number of changes – including to your diet. This can take a while to come to terms with. For more information about living with a stoma, see our section: Related information.
After a diagnosis of anal cancer, you're likely to have a range of emotions. As well as the emotional aspects, there can be a lot of practical issues to sort out. These include telling other people and taking time off work. Talk to your family and friends to help them to understand what you’re going through and how you’re feeling. Organisations and support groups can also be a great source of information and support. See our section: Other helpful websites.
For more articles on the various aspects of living with cancer, see our section: Related information.
The most common symptom of anal cancer is bleeding from your bottom. Other symptoms include pain, a discharge from your bottom, and itchiness. You might feel a lump around your bottom too.
For more information, see our section: Symptoms of anal cancer.
The symptoms of haemorrhoids (piles) and anal cancer can be similar as both can cause bleeding and make your bottom feel itchy. Your doctor can do a simple test to check which you have. Although bleeding from your bottom is more likely to be due to piles, it’s important to check.
Anal cancer is rare type of cancer.
The information and/or article is solely the contribution of Bupa, (hereinafter referred to as “Bupa UK”) a United Kingdom (UK) based healthcare services expert and is based on their experiences and medical practices prevalent in UK. All the efforts to ensure accuracy and relevance of the content is undertaken by Bupa UK. The content of the article should not be construed as a statement of law or used for any legal purpsoe or otherwise. Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company Limited (formerly known as Max Bupa Health Insurance Company Limited) (hereinafter referred to as “the Company”) hereby expressly disown and repudiated any claims (including but not limited to any third party claims or liability, of any nature, whatsoever) in relation to the accuracy, completeness, usefulness and real-time of any information and contents available in this article, and against any intended purposes (of any kind whatsoever) by use thereof, by the user/s (whether used by user/s directly or indirectly). Users are advised to obtain appropriate professional advice and/or medical opinion, before acting on the information provided, from time to time, in the article(s).
Please click on Agree button to be Redirected to BANCA Site.
Else click on close icon.