ABSTRACT
Patients with advanced colorectal cancers – particularly those in the rectum and distal sigmoid colon – can suffer from a variety of local symptoms including bleeding, mucus discharge, tenesmus, constipation, diarrhoea, urgency, incontinence and pelvic pain. The insertion of endoprostheses has been one of the routine options for palliation of malignant dysphagia for many years. Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) is much more appropriate – and indeed may be the treatment of choice – for early tumours of the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract in patients who are unsuitable for surgery. Almost all the techniques for debulking exophytic tumours in the rectosigmoid region are applied endoscopically. The argon laser produces a bright blue-green laser beam which can be transmitted via a flexible fibre and used endoscopically. PDT is a technique for producing localized tissue necrosis with light after prior administration of a photosensitizing drug. Radiotherapy can give excellent results as primary treatment for small rectal cancers.
