[The frequency of tumor cell detection in the abdominal cavity during combined treatment of rectal cancer].

In 53 patients with rectal cancer, subjected to an intensive preoperative gamma therapy, and 14 patients, treated only surgically, washings from the abdominal cavity obtained intraoperatively were studied cytologically. Cancer cells were detected in every second patient of both groups. The frequency of their detection was conditioned by cancer localization in the rectum and a degree of its intraparietal spread. The data obtained indicate the efficacy of intensive preoperative irradiation that causes a radiation damage of tumor cells disseminated intraabdominally during the operative intervention.