Sphincter and nerve preserving total mesorectal excision

The summer of 2002 has seen the introduction of two new key words in the literature on rectal carcinoma. The words are TME Workshop. Papers attesting to a major impact on rectal cancer outcomes in Norway, Sweden, and Holland, are the background to two major papers in the August British Journal of Surgery, one from Ireland and one from Sweden plus a leading article from a professor in Singapore entitled "Adjuvant therapy for rectal cancer cannot be based on the results of other surgeons".