Lisa A. Kachnic, MD

As part of our coverage of the 2014 ASCO GI Symposium, we highlight some of the most interesting trials presented at this year's meeting.

In this issue of ONCOLOGY, Dr. Czito and colleagues from Duke University School of Medicine and the University of Texas Southwestern describe the potential benefit of incorporating intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) into the combined-modality treatment of anal canal cancer.[1] As the authors well delineate, the treatment of anal canal cancer has progressed from radical surgery to organ preservation with the use of definitive chemoradiotherapy.

The patient’s medical history is remarkable only for asthma and mild emphysema. The family history included a grandmother with gastric cancer. The patient had been taking estrogen replacement therapy since menopause 3 years earlier, and she was