Carcinoma of the large bowel in patients aged 70 years and older.

In a prospective series of 443 cases of large-bowel cancer there were 192 cases occurring in patients aged 70 years and over. The resectability rate in this group was 84.9% and was almost identical with that of the whole series (84.6%). There was an overall operative mortality rate of 7.3% in the older age group, compared with 6.4% in the whole series. However, when octogenarians were considered, the resectability rate fell to 74.6% and the overall operative mortality rate increased to 19%. In the treatment of large-bowel cancer it would seem that special consideration should be given to octogenarians.