Colorectal cancer at the Princess Alexandra Hospital: a prospective study of 729 cases.

The results of treatment of 729 patients with cancer of the large bowel treated at the Princess Alexandra Hospital from January 1971 to December 1980 have been analysed. The majority (540 patients or 74.1%) presented with symptoms requiring investigation, and there was an incidence of acute obstruction of 17.6% (128 patients). In just over half the patients (55.3%) there was a significant delay in diagnosis. The operative mortality rate for curative resections for both rectal and colonic cancer was 2.7%. There was no mortality in 24 curative local resections for rectal cancer. The resection rate for the whole group was 87.4% and the age corrected 5-year survival rates were Dukes' A 99.1%; Dukes' B 78.3%; and Dukes' C 32.4%. These results are compared with those reported in a retrospective study from this Hospital in 1975 and with those from other Australian and overseas centres.