Carcinoid tumor of the appendix: treatment and prognosis.

In a long-term study of 150 unselected patients with carcinoid tumors of the appendix, we found that the neoplasms were usually less than 1.0 cm in largest dimension and discovered as an incidental finding during surgery performed for other reasons. Metastases were observed with none of the 127 appendiceal carcinoids less than 2.

Trends in right and left-sided colon cancer.

The increasing ratio of proximal to distal colorectal carcinomas was confirmed in this population-based study of 668 new cases diagnosed among Rochester, Minnesota residents between 1940 and 1979. The change was due to a rise in the incidence of proximal lesions (from 15.1 per 100,000 person-years in 1940-59 to 17.

A decline in carcinoma of the stomach. A diagnostic artifact?

During the past 50 years or more, a dramatic decline in the mortality from gastric carcinoma has been observed in virtually every country in the world, including the United States. Some investigators suspect that this decline is due to refinements in the diagnosis and classification of abdominal malignancies rather than being a true decline in the incidence of gastric cancer. Because the record system in Rochester, Minnesota, ensures the identification of virtually every patient in the local population with a serious illness, and the level of diagnosis is high, it seemed appropriate to study the incidence and long-term trends of gastric cancer in this community.

Cholecystectomy and carcinoma of the colon.

After cholecystectomy the concentration of secondary bile acids in the bile increases. These bile acids have been incriminated in the pathogenesis of carcinoma of the colon. Hence the hypothesis that cholecystectomy predisposes to the development of carcinoma of the colon.