wondering about age ranges of individuals here; anyone younger than 40?

xxsarahxx

Hi all,

I was recently diagnosed with anal cancer.  Just finished day 8 of 29 days of radiation (IMRT). I'll be getting 52 grey total. Staging is T2, no detectable metastases/lymph node involvement. As they thought it was a hemmorhoid, it was resected (skilfully, thankfully) and what is left does not appear to be overly active. I completed the first round of mitomycin/5fu this past Monday. All pretty standard stuff.

So that's the guts of the disease, but I'm really wondering about how old people who participate here are? Clearly cancer is generally a disease of age, but we know it doesn't always follow that guideline. However my sense from what I've read is that anal cancer doesn't often strike young. I'm in my 30s and was wondering if anyone else here was too and if so if they can share any insight from their situation that I might find relevant to mine. (i.e. fertility, possible role of genetic mutation, feeling like this is esentially setting you up for a short life even if the primary tumor is gone, etc.)

Thanks!

mp327

xxsarahxx

I'm very sorry that you were diagnosed with anal cancer, but I hope that so far you are doing well with your treatment.  I was diagnosed at age 54 and according to the information I have posted below, which came directly off of the American Cancer Society's site, this disease is rare in people under the age of 35 and is most often diagnosed in people in their 60's.  I was diagnosed in 2008 and have been on 3 support sites over the years on a regular basis and I can tell you that there are many people who are diagnosed in their 40's and 50's.  However, I do not remember many people on the sites who were in their 30's at the time of diagnosis.  I'm very sorry you've had to find your way here and I wish you all the very best with your treatment.

Martha

What are the key statistics about anal cancer?

Anal cancer is fairly rare – much less common than cancer of the colon or rectum. The American Cancer Society estimates for anal cancer in the United States for 2014 are:

• About 7,270 new cases (4,630 in women and 2,640 in men)
• About 1,010 deaths (610 in women and 400 in men)

The number of new anal cancer cases has been rising for many years. Anal cancer is rare in people younger than 35 and is found mainly in older adults, with an average age being in the early 60s.

The risk of being diagnosed with anal cancer during one’s lifetime is about 1 in 500. The risk is slightly higher in women than in men. The risk is also higher in people with certain risk factors for anal cancer.

Treatment for anal cancer is often very effective, and many patients with this cancer can be cured. But anal cancer can be a serious condition. For information on survival, see the section, “Survival rates by stage of anal cancer.”

Cornfused

Hi. I am older but you

Hi. I am older but you mentioned fertility. In my 30s I did IVF 3x. Wow so cool they took most of it without destroying your anus. 

For me the pain is bad. 

I am one of those 50s folks that looks 40 - super healthy so was very shocked by this. Just finished my first chemo too and 10 days radiation 

fingers crossed all goes as well as the docs say it will! 

Sariina

I am 34 and was dx in

I am 34 and was dx in September 2015 with a stage 2 tumor no lymph node involvement, mine was caused by HPV. I just finished treatment on december 17th. You standard 5fu and mito, plus 28 rad treatments.

Krissy59

Age

I was diagnosed 4 months after my 40th birthday. Stage 3b. Completed standard chemo/radiation treatment. Getting close to 3 year anniversary and doing well so far.