Cancer of the colon and rectum

A study was made of 300 surgically treated cases of colorectal cancer during an eight year period. The average age for the disease was 60 years with no sex difference but a low incidence in the younger age group. About 1/3 of the cases presented as emergency and 1/4 with palpable mass. Rectum and sigmoid were the commonest sites, while anal carcinoma was rare. The overall mortality for surgical treatment was 10%. 67.3% were resectable with a mortality of 5%. Although well differentiated adenocarcinoma was the commonest variety, mucinous, colloid and other types were rare. Less than 1/3 of the cases were in favourable Stage A and B, while the majority were advanced. This was the main difference from the reports of western series apart from the rarity of inflammatory and premalignant conditions.