Cerebral metastasis from anal squamous cell carcinoma: A case report and literature review

Popa,Elena Andreea; Tomatis,Vanesa Marisa; Quick,Esther; Mitchell,Paul Stephen; Tsimiklis,Chrisovalantis; Mascarenhas,Annika Reann

doi:10.3892/ol.2025.15086

Cerebral metastasis from anal squamous cell carcinoma: A case report and literature review

Authors:
- Elena Andreea Popa
- Vanesa Marisa Tomatis
- Esther Quick
- Paul Stephen Mitchell
- Chrisovalantis Tsimiklis
- Annika Reann Mascarenhas
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Affiliations: Department of Neurosurgery, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, South Australia 5042, Australia, Department of Molecular Pathology, SA Pathology, Adelaide, South Australia 5042, Australia
Published online on: May 13, 2025 https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2025.15086
Article Number: 340
Copyright : © Popa et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License [CC BY 4.0].

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Abstract

Anal cancer comprises only 3% of all gastrointestinal malignancies, of which only a small proportion of patients will experience distant metastasis; very few of these cases will metastasise to the brain. The present case report details the clinical course of a 56‑year‑old female patient who was previously diagnosed with anal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and subsequently developed an isolated cerebral metastasis ~5 years later. The patient was initially diagnosed with anal SCC after presenting with a non‑tender lump in the groin and had no other signs or symptoms. After undergoing a lumpectomy in 2017, the patient was lost to follow‑up. In 2022, the patient presented with a perforated rectal tumour and consequently underwent a loop colostomy followed by chemoradiotherapy. The patient was considered to be in remission at the end of 2023 until subsequent presentation months later with vague neurological symptoms, which led to the diagnosis of a large metastatic lesion in the right temporal lobe. Following resection via craniotomy and additional radiation therapy, there was no evidence to suggest recurrence of either the anal primary tumour or cerebral metastasis from follow‑up imaging 5 months post‑operatively. The present report highlights the potentially aggressive nature of anal SCC, late‑onset cerebral metastasis and the need for further investigation into standardising treatment protocols and surveillance strategies for gastrointestinal metastatic disease.

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