Palliative surgery for rectal cancer in a national cohort

Objective Whether resection of the primary tumour is of benefit to patients with incurable rectal cancer (RC) remains a matter of debate. In this study we analyse prospectively recorded data from a national cohort. Method Among 4831 patients diagnosed with RC between 1997 and 2001, 838 (17%) patients were treated with palliative surgery. Patients were stratified according to disease stage, age and type of surgery. Results A significantly longer median survival, 12 (range 10–13) months, was observed in patients treated with resection of the primary tumour compared with 5 (range 4–6) months in patients treated with nonresective procedures (P