Statistical studies made by Dixon1reveal that modern treatment of intestinal cancer is successful if it is applied before metastasis to distant organs has occurred. The studies also reveal that at least 4 of 10 patients whose malignant intestinal lesions were removed had demonstrable metastasis to lymph nodes, liver or both at the time of operation. In this particular group of patients the five year survival rate was 30 per cent. In the group of patients without manifest metastatic lesions at the time of operation the five year survival rate was 62 per cent. Since minute metastatic lesions are easily overlooked at the time of surgical exploration, it is reasonable to suppose that a certain number of the nonsurvivors of the group without manifest metastatic lesions at the time of operation actually harbored such lesions, and this might account for at least some of those who did not survive