Adenocarcinoma of the Colon and Rectum

The site and the sex incidence of 555 carcinomas of the colon surgically resected at The Hospital of the Good Samaritan in Los Angeles were reviewed. Most of the carcinomas of the right and transverse colon were in female patients, and slightly more than half of the cancers of the left and rectosigmoid were in male patients. The largest tumors were found in the right and transverse colon. The incidence of carcinomas in the proximal colonic segments, especially the cecum, appears to be greater in patients of middle or upper socioeconomic groups, a phenomenon possibly related to diet.