Long-term survivors with nonresectable advanced carcinoma of the rectum

Two patients with advanced rectal cancer, women aged 73 and 49 years, have survived more than nine years with chemotherapy only and no surgical removal of the disease foci. In one patient, the tumor completely disappeared, and in the other the tumor stopped growing and its size remained unchanged. The reason for this long-term survival appears to be a high susceptibility to anticancer agents and persistence of enhanced host immunity.