PROGNOSIS IN CARCINOMA OF THE RECTUM

Abstract

In recent years a signal advance has been made in determining the operability of malignant lesions of the rectum and sigmoid, and methods have been evolved by which it is now possible to determine with fair accuracy the probable length of life of individuals following removal of such lesions. Operability can be determined by proctoscopic examination, digital examination of the terminal portion of the colon and bimanual examination of the pelvis. Much of prognostic significance may be learned by such methods, but little can be determined in this manner concerning length of life following radical removal of carcinoma. A valuable single criterion by which the surgeon can usually decide, before operation, the probable length of life of a patient following radical extirpation of malignant lesions has been provided by one of us,¹namely the numerical microscopic grading of such tumors. By using such a method the surgeon or pathologist