Rectal Cancer: Surgical Management, Basic and Clinical Research (Recent Results in Cancer Research, 146)

Rectal cancer is an exceptional tumour entity within the variety of gastrointestinal tumours. While clinical techniques such as rectal digital examination and endoscopy would enable diagnosis as early as the stage of polypoid preneoplasia, only 10% of rectal cancer patients undergo surgery at an early stage of the disease. The prognosis of rectal cancer without infiltration of the muscu laris is relatively good. However, with locally more advanced tu mours, possibly associated with lymphnode metastases, the prob ability of successful treatment decreases considerably. Further more, there is a clear prognostic discrepancy between proximal and distal rectal cancers. Rectal carcinomas, especially in the dis tal location, except those diagnosed at an early stage, usually re quire surgical treatment with postoperatively disturbed or lost anal sphincter function. A permanent colostomy may not be avoidable. The current trends and developments in diagnosis and therapy of rectal cancers may be described as follows: The search for new diagnostic procedures and the attempt to define risk groups for which intensive preventive measures would be clearly successful. New insights may come from mod ern molecular biology or molecular genetics, especially with re gard to hereditary colorectal carcinoma. A further increase in the rate of sphincter-preserving surgery without impairment of local tumour control or overall prog nosis. New surgical techniques such as trans sphincteric resec tion, but also various multimodal local treatment regimens, especially for low-risk tumours, are promising approaches."

This volume presents a current review of the multimodal treatment of rectal carcinoma given today. Therapeutic concepts are developed and discussed with respect to experience gained from the most recent clinical studies and the results of molecular biology and genetics and clinically oriented research. Hence, the reader is given the opportunity to become informed of new research-related insights and their pracitical effect and implementation. The book contains chapters on molecular biology, staging, surgical treatment - with special emphasis on sphincter preservation - options for treating recurrent tumors and aftercare based on present knowledge, all of which have been written by international experts in their respective fields.