Carcinoma of the cecum

During the ten year period of this retrospective study, 66 of 1,451 patients with carcinoma of the colon and rectum had carcinoma of the cecum. The most frequent symptoms were nonspecific and caused by anemia which, in some instances, were treated without adequate investigation. The standard and most appropriate treatment for carcinoma of the cecum is a right hemicolectomy with ileotranversostomy and, when necessary and feasible, en bloc resection of involved parts of the abdominal wall. In the absence of nodal disease or distant metastases, extension to the abdominal wall does not adversely influence the prognosis. The surgeon must remain aware of the possibility of coexisting carcinoma of the cecum and appendicitis. Any patient with a mass or a persistent draining sinus after an appendectomy or drainage of an appendical abscess should be suspected of having carcinoma of the cecum. The over-all five year survival rate in this series is 33%, and if curative resections alone are considered, it is 44%, with an operative mortality of 3%. More recent evidence indicates that there has been a shortening of the delay in treatment, and we believe future studies will show an improvement in these figures.