Four decades of anal cancer in Tasmania, Australia: What do the case data tell us?

Abstract

Background Anal cancer is a rare cancer analogous to cerVICal cancer, largely caused by exposure to oncogenic human papillomavirus. We have sought to study this disease in the epidemiologically distinct population of Tasmania. Methods: Medical records at all tertiary and secondary referral centres in Tasmania were audited for records with corresponding International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 codes. Statistical significances of trends were evaluated using Fisher's exact test, logistic regression or linear regression. Results: Of ∼1350 screening records, 170 cases of anal cancer were found with patient presentation during 19732010, corresponding to 132 patients. This cohort was mostl..