A surgeon who performs a palliative procedure for a recurrent cancer is often gratified by the survival in comfort of the patient for many years, and even by a cure. Some twenty-one years ago this happened in a patient referred to me. Case 1 Man aged 61 March 1950: Adenocarcinoma of cecum invading posterior abdominal wall. Liver not involved. Right hemicolectomy with excision of involved muscles. Histology: high grade, two lymph nodes involved (Grade C case). January 1952: Recurrence invading right ilium. Tumour resected with ilium; outer fibres of femoral nerve divided. Histology: ill-differentiated, signet-ring cell type. No nodes involved. October 1971: Still working at age of 83.