The effect of preoperative radiotherapy for the rectal cancer

Clinico-pathological studies of preoperative radiotherapy (30 - 40 Gy) for the rectal cancer were carried out. The subjects were 20 patients given preoperative radiotherapy and 55 patients given surgery only. The results were as follows: 1. The incidence of mucinous cancer type in radiotherapy group was higher than that in the surgery only group. 2. No effect of radiotherapy was found in lymph vessels and veins. 3. The Rectum wall was classified into 5 layers and the most lateral layer was the mostsm effectively treated. 4. The Radiotherapy was not effective for metastatic lympnodes, histopathologically. 5. An effective reduction of tumor size following radiotherapy was seen by CT scan. (author)