Anal cancer research covers chemoradiation optimization, HPV-driven disease biology, and the emerging role of checkpoint inhibition in advanced squamous cell carcinoma.
PATHFINDER 2, a prospective, interventional cohort study of 35,878 adults aged 50 and older with no clinical suspicion of cancer, evaluated the performance and safety of a blood-based multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test that analyzes cell-free DNA methylation patterns to detect a shared cancer signal and predict its tissue of origin.
A registry-based analysis of 11,681 US interventional cancer trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov between 2008 and 2024 found that industry sponsors now outnumber federal sponsors nearly 5 to 1 (4.53-to-1 overall), with the ratio widening from 2.72-to-1 in 2008–2012 to 6.44-to-1 in 2019–2024.
The FDA approved retifanlimab, a PD-1-targeting checkpoint inhibitor, in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel for first-line treatment and as a single agent for second-line treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal (SCAC) — the first checkpoint inhibitor approval in this disease.