SynthesisInternational journal of colorectal disease2021
Radiotherapy alone versus chemoradiotherapy for stage I anal squamous cell carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in International journal of colorectal disease, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Advances in anal cancer treatment: current standards, the role of immunotherapy and emerging strategies.ESMO gastrointestinal oncology · 2026Review
- Prognosis Prediction and Surgical Benefit Subgroup Analysis in Anal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients Undergoing Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy.Cancer medicine · 2025Article
- A Systematic Review Defining Early Anal Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Identifying Treatment.Cancers · 2025Review
- De-Escalation of Therapy for Patients with Early-Stage Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Anus.Cancers · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposePatients with stage I anal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) have been underrepresented in landmark trials showing superiority of chemoradiotherapy over radiotherapy for definitive treatment. This review aims to elucidate whether definitive treatment with radiotherapy versus chemoradiotherapy is associated with differences in survival and treatment-related toxicity outcomes in patients with stage I anal SCC.
methodsMedline, EMBASE, and CENTRAL were searched as of November 2020 to identify studies comparing outcomes of radiotherapy versus chemoradiotherapy for non-operative treatment of patients with stage I anal SCC. The primary outcomes were 5-year overall survival and 5-year disease-free survival. The secondary outcome was treatment-related toxicities. A pairwise meta-analysis was performed using an inverse-variance random-effects model.
resultsFrom 2174 citations, 5 retrospective studies with 415 patients treated with radiotherapy and 3784 patients treated with chemoradiotherapy were included. Patients treated with chemoradiotherapy had an increased 5-year overall survival (RR 1.18, 95% CI 1.10-1.26, p < 0.00001, I
conclusionRadiotherapy may be an appropriate alternative to chemoradiotherapy for patients with stage I anal SCC who may be unable to tolerate chemotherapy-related toxicity; however, chemoradiotherapy remains the gold standard. Larger prospective studies comparing strategies for this select patient population are needed to clarify whether treatment can be de-escalated.
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