ALTHOUGH there is a great deal of information about the pathology ofcarcinoma of the rectum, no adequate data are available for the colon using Dukes' Classification. This paper reports a survey of 656 consecutive large bowel specimens received in the Bland-Sutton Institute over a 10-year period. The pathological features have been studied with particular emphasis on differences between the right and left colon and the rectum. The results of survival studies are presented and the differences between the coloii and rectum are discussed. MATERIALS AND METHODSThe specimens are from all bowel resections carried out at the Middlesex Hospital on ward patients between the years 1951 and 1961. The methods used follow those of Dukes (1940) and were introduced by Dr. B. C. Morson in 1951, and one histopathologist in rotation has been responsible for the preparation, dissection and histological reporting of all cases of carcinoma of the large bowel.All specimens were received in the fresh unfixed state and after opening the bowel along the anti-mesenteric border the blood vessels and lymph nodes were dissected out and their exact relation to each other noted on a diagram. The specimen was then pinned out on cork and fixed in 10 % formol saline. The glands * Present address: Wessex Regional Radiotherapy Centre, Southampton.

No abstract