[Multiple colonic cancers: simultaneous and successive]

The authors attempt an approach of a controversial problem of contemporary surgery and stress the following significant aspects:--the frequency of multiple colon cancers is of 3%, approximately 25% of the cases being associated with benign proliferative lesions:--the intra-operatory diagnosis of multiple colon cancers is difficult (3 out of 12 cases); intrasurgical exploration may give rise to problems in connection with the insufficiency of the exploration, or the inaccessibility of unique tumors, thus existing the risk of leaving in place a developing tumor, that can be discovered at a new intervention (one case); the operability of multiple colon cancers is similar to that of the unique malignant lesions, depending on the extension, the variety and the focal distribution of the neoplastic lesions.