Results of radical surgery for advanced rectal cancer.

During the period 1972 to 1987 inclusive, 313 multivisceral resections in advanced rectal cancer were performed, accounting for 10.3 percent of all radical surgical interventions for this disease. Of these resections, 71 were for distant metastases and 242 for tumor infiltration to adherent organs. The postoperative mortality was 5.4 percent, which was not significantly different from that in the total group of patients with rectal cancer (4.9 percent) operated upon during the same period. After multivisceral resections, 49.5 percent of patients developed postoperative complications. In the total group of patients with rectal cancer, the postoperative morbidity was 30.3 percent. Long-term results were assessed in 190 patients who had been operated upon more than five years ago. It has been established that 42.1 percent of patients lived more than five years after multivisceral resections. Hope is inspired by the fact that of 15 patients with hepatic metastases (26 percent) lived over five years following radical surgery. These data allow the conclusion that radical surgery for advanced rectal cancer is justifiable and advisable.