A clinical study of colo-rectal carcinoma was done on 51 patients histologically confirmed and treated surgically from June, 1960 to May, 1969 at Woo Sok Medical College Hospital.
The results obtained were as follows:
1) The incidence of colo-rectal cancer in Korea is, contrary to that of occidental countries, third in frequency after stomach and uterine cancers. The assumption is that of this interesting difference is probably due to relative paucity of colon polyps and chronic ulcerative colitis in this country.
2) An average age incidence was 55.8 years, most frequent age group being 51 to 60 years (31.4%). In younger age group, male was predominant and in older age group, reverse was true. Over-all male to female ratio was 1.32:1.
3) Subjective and objective symptoms were pain, melena, change of bowel habits, weight loss and intestinal obstruction in decreasing order of frequency, breakdown being as follows: in right colon, pain 100%, indigestion 90.9%, and anemia 54.5%: in left colon, change of bowel habits 75.0%, pain, melena and nausea with vomiting 66.6% respectively: in ano rectal cancer, melena 93.0%, pain 89.2%, change of bowel habits 85.7% and fresh anal bleeding 53.6%.
4) Duration of the disease over 5 months was in 80.4%, 7 months duration being in 21.5%.
5) 54.9% of cancers were located recto-anal area, 13.7% in cecum and 11.8% in sigmoid colon.
6) Diagnosis was made by barium enema, 82.3% and sigmoidoscopy, 82.3% out of 34 cases of sigmoido-recto-anal cancers, and digital examination, 85.7% out of 28 cases of ano-rectal cancers.
7) Errorneous treatments, before the confirmation of diagnosis, were done in 18 cases (35.2%), among which hemorrhoidectomy in 5 cases and appendectomy in 4 cases.
8) Radical operation was performed in 44 cases (86.2%).
9) Histologically, adenocarcinoma consisted of 90.2%, squamous cell carcinoma 3.9%.
10) Metastases during operation were noted in 28 cases (54.9%), among which 14 cases (29.4%) being lymph node metastases.
11) Post-operative complications occured in 27.5% of all cases, wound infection being most prevalent (9.8%).
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