[Long-term results of necessarily extensive colectomies for cancer. A retrospective study of 41 cases]

In the present study, we try to discuss the results of the "en bloc" surgical resection of the extensive cancer of the colon which infiltrates one or more of the neighboring organs. Data from 41 patients who underwent this kind of operation from 1970 to 1988 were reviewed. The localisation, currently seen of this cancer, was the sigmoid colon and the number of the infiltrated neighboring organs varied from 1 to 3. The small intestine and the urinary tract were the most frequently infiltrated organs. The classification of Dukes was used: 14 cases were on stage B and 27 on stage C. The operative mortality was 9.7% and the morbidity was 38%. The survival rate at 5 years was calculated with the Kaplan-Meier method. It was 48% with a significant difference between stage B (91%) and stage C (25%). These results were similar to those of the authors found in the literature in the past ten years. They justify these extended resections.