Surgical Anatomy and 'Waisting' of the sIgmoid SpEcimen

Treatment of rectal cancer has improved to the extent that its local recurrence rates are now much lower than other sites in the large bowel. It has been found that higher rates of recurrence in the sigmoid section of the colon, just before the rectum. This might be due to a narrowing in the bowel, and difficulties identifying whether cancers are in the sigmoid or rectum. The aim is to investigate the bowel from 20 patients undergoing surgery for left sided colorectal cancer at the Royal Marsden. These patients would have routine investigations and treatments, but once the bowel has been removed, it would undergo a MRI scan and additional slices and photography during pathological analysis.