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Aim: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy is the standard treatment for squamous cell carcinoma of anal canal. We describe our experience of treating such patients at our center. Methods: Patients with anal squamous cell carcinoma were treated with a uniform sphincter preserving protocol at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, South Australia. Standard radiotherapy along with 5-fluorouracil (750 mg/m2 on days 1–5 and days 29–32) and mitomycin C (12 mg/m2 on day 1 only) was given to eligible patients. Results: Of the 34 patients included in this study, nearly 60% were women. Most (89.3%) had T1-2 disease. One-third had nodal involvement. Twenty-seven had chemoradiotherapy, six had local excision alone and one had radiotherapy alone. Among those who had chemoradiation, 71.5% had a complete response and remained colostomy free until the last follow-up. Most completed the treatment without major side-effects. The 3 and 5-year disease free survival rate was 62% and 53%, respectively. All patients who failed chemoradiation underwent salvage surgery with a median survival time of 32.5 months. Conclusion: Sphincter preservation is the goal for anal cancers. Chemoradiotherapy is an important modality to achieve this goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Colorectal cancer is a major public health problem in Malaysia. However, it is also one of the most treatable cancers, resulting in significant numbers of survivors. Therefore, the impact of surviving treatment for colorectal cancer on health related quality of life is important for the patients, clinicians and policy makers, and may differ in different cultures and populations. The aim of this study was to validate the Malaysian versions of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life instruments among colorectal cancers patients. Methods/design: This is a cross sectional multi centre study. Three hospitals were included, the University of Malaya Medical Centre, the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre and Hospital Tuanku Jaafar Seremban. Malaysian citizens and permanent residence were studied and demographic and clinical information obtained from hospital records. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of life Core 30, colorectal cancer CR29, and the colorectal cancer liver metastasis LMC 21 were used and an observer assessment of performance obtained with the Karnofsky Performance Scale. Questionnaires were translated into three most commonly spoken languages in Malaysia (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil), then administered, scored and analyzed following the developers' guidelines. Ethical approval was obtained from the participating centres. Tests of reliability and validity were performed to examine the validity of these instruments. Conclusion: The result of pilot testing shows that the use of the Malaysian versions of EORTC QLQ C30, CR29 instruments is feasible in our sample of colorectal cancer patients. Instructions for completion as well as questions were well understood except the questions on the overall quality of life, overall health status and sexual activity. Thus we anticipate obtaining good psychometric properties for the instruments at the end of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]