Summary and Conclusions
Fifty-one cases of cancer of the rectum in patients 80 years of age or older are discussed.
Forty patients were treated conservatively. The mean and average survival periods were 15 and 22 months, respectively.
Eleven patients were treated by major surgical procedures. There were two deaths within 30 days after operation. The mean and average survival period in the remaining nine patients were 33 and 45 months, respectively.
It is difficult to decide when to employ conservative management and when to utilize radical treatment of rectal carcinoma in the otogenarian. Certain criteria based on observation are offered to help make this decision. Each patient has to be considered individually and carefully.
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References
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Read at the Meeting of the American Proctologic Society, Atlantic City, New Jersey, June 15 to 18, 1959.
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Quan, S.H.Q. Cancer of the rectum in octogenarians. Dis Colon Rectum 2, 355–361 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02616878
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02616878