Philadelphia plan for pelvic cancer control.

Abstract

Success in the treatment of pelvic cancer depends primarily on early diagnosis, since the results in the management of cases discovered in the early stages are much superior to the outcome in those discovered late. Early diagnosis is based on periodic health examinations, prompt seeking of advice by the patient when suggestive symptoms arise, and early recognition of the disease by the physician. The responsibility of the physician, of course, is to take a careful history and perform a thorough pelvic and rectal examination with an awareness of the possibility of cancer. The Committee for the Study of Pelvic Cancer was organized in 1945 by the Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia with the sanction of the Philadelphia County Medical Society and the financial support of the Philadelphia Division of the American Cancer Society. The committee was formed to study the delay period in the diagnosis of female pelvic cancer. The committee