[Current approaches to radical surgical and combined treatment of rectal cancer]

The article gives an analysis of the 30 years experiences with treatment of more than 3200 patients with rectum cancer at a specialized oncological department. Postoperative lethality was 7.3%. In recent years this figure has been decreased (5.2%). The individual programs of treatment were associated with the degree of growing the tumor through the bowel wall and with the metastatic damage of the regional lymph nodes. These factors show that careful as well as extended and combined operations are justified. The advantages of combined methods of treatment and functionally saving surgical interventions have been revealed.