Origins of rectal cancer surgery; a critical and historical overview




Adrian E. Ortega, Coloproctología, Hospital Ángeles Universidad, Ciudad de México, México
Noelia B. Fernández-Baez, Coloproctología, Hospital Ángeles Universidad, Ciudad de México, México
Kyle G. Cologne, Coloproctología, Hospital Ángeles Universidad, Ciudad de México, México
Glenn T. Ault, Coloproctología, Hospital Ángeles Universidad, Ciudad de México, México
Miguel Esquivel-Herrera, Unidad de Coloproctología, Hospital Ángeles, Querétaro, México


This article aims to highlight the successes and the failures of surgeons who have taken on the task of trying to alleviate or cure rectal cancer in the last three centuries. Emphasis is placed on the evolution of important concepts from a previously incurable disease to an expectation of curability.



Keywords: Surgery. Rectal cancer.