AUSTRALASIAN MULTICENTRED PROSPECTIVE RANDOMISED STUDY OF LAPAROSCOPIC VS CONVENTIONAL SURGICAL TREATMENT OF COLON CA

结肠癌是西方社会最常见的实体肿瘤之一。通常的初始治疗是通过腹壁中线切开的手术切除肿瘤。在过去的10年里，微创技术已经改变了许多外科手术的方法。一个很好的例子就是切除胆囊的手术。现在通常使用腹腔镜（望远镜）在脐部进行检查。然后在视频屏幕上显示胆囊的图像，引导器械在不在腹壁上做大切口的情况下切除胆囊。这被称为腹腔镜胆囊切除术。腹腔镜辅助结肠癌切除的安全性尚待确定。这项研究将比较通过剖腹手术（腹壁中线切口）或腹腔镜辅助手术（望远镜）切除结肠癌患者的长期和短期结果。

Colon cancer is one of the most common solid tumours in western society. The usual initial treatment is excision of the cancer by an operation done through a cut down the midline of the abdominal wall. Over the past 10 years, minimally invasive technology has changed the approach to many surgical operations. A good example of this is an operation to remove the gall bladder. This is now routinely done using a laparoscope (telescope) which is introduced at the umbilicus. An image on a video screen of the gall bladder is then used to guide instruments to remove the gall bladder without making a large incision in the abdominal wall. This is called a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The safety of a laparoscopic assisted approach in the removal of colon cancer is yet to be determined. This study will compare the long term and short term outcomes of people who have colon cancers removed either by a laparotomy (a cut in the midline of the abdominal wall) or by a laparoscopic assisted approach (telescope).