Carcinoma of the Colon and Stomach

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Abstract
CANCERS arising within the gastrointestinal tract are diseases of major proportion. It is estimated that in 1973 in the United States 97,300 people will die of cancer of the digestive organs; death from cancer of the colon and rectum (47,400 people) being second only to cancer of the lung (72,000 people).1 Despite increased awareness of the early symptoms of colonic cancer, improvements in diagnosis, and advances in surgery the death rate for cancer of the colon has not changed appreciably during the last 40 years. During the same period, the death rate from pancreatic cancer has increased, esophageal cancer has remained much the same, and the incidence and death rate from gastric cancer has decreased sharply.1 There are various recognized causes in the development of gastrointestinal malignancies. Carcinoma of the Colon Hereditary Factors.— The importance of genetic factors is well-recognized in conditions such as familial polyposis and its