Most patients with rectal cancer would shorten lives to avoid a stoma.

The article discusses a study of patient preferences for surgical and adjuvant treatment options for rectal cancer, which was published in the "Archives of Surgery." Results showed that the strongest preference was to avoid abdominoperineal resection. In addition, 65% were willing to trade a mean of 34% of their life expectancy to avoid the treatment and the resulting stoma. Meanwhile, 91% of surgeons were willing to trade 25% of patients' life expectancies to avoid the treatment.