[Extensive surgery of colorectal carcinoma in the elderly--a justified therapy approach].

Over a 5-year period 1232 patients were operated on for carcinoma of the colon or rectum, 828 had curative surgery without and only 69 with resection of other organs. About half of the patients were 70 or more years old, but the older patients, especially in the extended resected cases, had the same or better 5-year survival and the same rate of complications or mortality. The overall prognosis depends on the complete resection of the tumor, the involvement of lymph nodes and the number of general risk factors, but not on the age of the patient.