[Retrospective radiographic study of growth of colorectal carcinoma]

Sixty-two patients with 73 colon cancers who were radiographically overlooked were eventually confirmed and treated. The author referred to the films of the past barium enema and tried to determine what kind of morphological changes in the radiologic appearance. And furthermore, pathological features of the lesions were analysed. The following results were obtained: 1) In the cases of colorectal cancer that were retrospectively estimated as the mucosal cancer in the past X-ray films, a rapid growth pattern of tumors was observed after submucosal invasion and during the transition to advanced cancer. 2) The majority of early forms of advanced cancer were suspicious in terms of flat elevation and sessile colorectal lesions. 3) Advanced cancers could be classified pathologically into two types, polypoid growth (PG-ca) and non-polypoid growth (NPG-ca). The two types differed in tumor diameter, and one case of the NPG-ca type in our series showed a slow-growth pattern.