Electrocoagulation as primary therapy for rectal carcinoma.

The survival of forty-seven patients with cancer of the rectum treated by electrocoagulation is compared with thirty-seven patients treated by abdominoperineal resection. The one to ten year survival for the electrocoagulationgroup was 48 per cent and the one to eight year survival for the abdominoperineal resection group was 46 per cent. We believe that electrocoagulation when selectively applied has a place in the management of cancer of the rectum.