Local excision of rectal tumours.

Local excision of colorectal tumour may be palliative or curative. Recent advances in minimal access techniques have allowed curative excision to be offered to a wider range of patients. Absolute indications for potentially curative local excision include mobile tumours, T1 tumours (assessed by ultrasonography), well or moderately differentiated histology (determined by biopsy) and tumour size less than 3 cm. Relative indications include T2 and T3 tumours (by ultrasonography), poorly differentiated histology (by biopsy) and tumour size greater than 3 cm depending on patient fitness. The rationale for these recommendations is described in detail.