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The frequency of infection in 197 patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery and having either no blood transfusion, transfusion with whole blood, or filtered blood free from leucocytes and platelets was investigated in a prospective randomized trial. Natural killer cell function was measured before operation and 3, 7 and 30 days after surgery in 60 consecutive patients. Of the patients 104 required blood transfusion; 48 received filtered blood and 56 underwent whole blood transfusion. Postoperative infections developed in 13 patients transfused with whole blood (23 per cent, 9.5 per cent confidence interval 13–32 per cent), in one patient transfused with blood free from leucocytes and platelets (2 per cent, 9.5 per cent confidence interval 0.05–11 per cent) and in two non-transfusedpatients (2 per cent, 95 per cent conjidence interval 0.3-8per cent) (P < 0.01). Natural killer cell function was significantly (P < 0.001) impaired up to 30 days after surgery in patients transfused with whole blood. These data provide a strong case against the use of whole blood transfusion in patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery.

The design, and complications seen during the first 2 years, of a randomized trial of postoperative radiotherapy for rectosigmoid cancer Dukes' B and C are presented and discussed. It is concluded that the present complication rate-below 10% in 221 patients-permits continuation of the intake, which is planned to include 550 patients, to demonstrate a possible increase in crude 5-year survival by 15% (60-75% in Dukes' B and 25-40% in Dukes' C), on the basis of a 0·01 significance level and a probability that the experiment will be successful of 0·90.

The results of different types of treatment for early cancer in 158 out of 1,300 patients with rectal and sigmoid cancer were evaluated in a prospective study from 1979 to 1984. Radical surgery was performed in 121 patients (mean age 66 years) with cancer Dukes' A (median diameter 3 cm), while 37 patients (mean age 71) with smaller cancers (median 2 cm) had polypectomy or local excision. Post-operative complications were significantly more frequent in the first group. No patients in any of the two groups with carcinoma in pedunculated adenomas or within the upper half of the submucosa or above 9 cm from the anal verge had recurrent cancer. CEA-measurements had no prognostic value. No difference was found in crude or cancer-related death between the two groups. The overall results support the use of local treatment in elderly patients with complicating disease, having small cancers, not penetrating the tunica muscularis externa of the rectosigmoid wall.

The design, and complications seen during the first 2 years, of a randomized trial of postoperative radiotherapy for rectosigmoid cancer Dukes' B and C are presented and discussed. It is concluded that the present complication rate-below 10% in 221 patients-permits continuation of the intake, which is planned to include 550 patients, to demonstrate a possible increase in crude 5-year survival by 15% (60-75% in Dukes' B and 25-40% in Dukes' C), on the basis of a 0·01 significance level and a probability that the experiment will be successful of 0·90.