PROGNOSIS OF COLORECTAL CANCER ACCORDING TO CHANGES OF SURGICAL PROCEDURES

Five-hundred and thirty-one patients operated on for colorectal cancer at the department were subjected to a study that was designed to determine the influence of recent changes of operative procedure on the prognosis. The patients were allocated to three terms, namely, first term for 5 years from 1971 to 1975, middle term for 10 years 1976-1985, and latter term for 5 years 1986-1990, and the survival rate and recurrence pattern were compared. In colon cancers, RI or R2 lymph node dissection was performed in more than half of patients with N0 or N1, with which radicality could be attained and the 5-year survival rate increased to 87%. For rectal cancers, low anterior resection and R3 lymph node dissection had been increasingly employed as time went by. An increase in 5-year survival rate was shown as demonstrated by 56% in the first, 71% in the middle, and 87% in the latter term. Examination of the pattern of recurrence revealed a decreased number of local recurrence and an increased number of liver metastasis in both colon and rectal cancers.