Abstract
It is customary to divide squamous cell cancers of the anus into two groups according to their site of origin: carcinoma of the anal canal, and carcinoma of the anal margin. Unfortunately there is no agreement on the extent of these regions. The Mayo Clinic considers the anal canal to end at the anal verge where the modified skin of the anal canal joins the hair-bearing perineal skin. At St. Mark’s Hospital, London, the distal end of the anal canal is taken as the mucocutaneous junction where the dentate line is situated. This variation in the interpretation of anatomical terms makes the comparison of data from different institutions very difficult. Tumours, located below the dentate line may be considered as arising from either the anal canal or the anal margin.
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© 1982 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Papillon, J. (1982). Topographical Distribution of Anal Cancers. In: Rectal and Anal Cancers. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68613-9_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68613-9_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-68615-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-68613-9
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