Somatostatin and Human Gastrointestinal Cancer

Abstract

In the UK colorectal cancer accounts for 11% of malignant neoplasms in men, and 10% in women. It is the second most common cause of cancer death in men, after carcinoma of the lung, and the third in women, after carcinoma of the breast and lung. Colorectal cancer is the commonest of gastrointestinal cancers and has a median 5 year survival rate of approximately 36%. Although carcinoma of the stomach has a lower incidence (6% in men and 4% in women) it is the fourth most common cause of cancer death in both men and women. It is the second commonest site of gastrointestinal malignancy and has a much poorer prognosis than colorectal cancer with a median five year survival of 11.1% in men and only 9.9% in women (Cancer Research Campaign, 1988-89). The prognosis for both of these conditions is primarily determined by the stage of disease at diagnosis and unfortunately the majority of patients present when the cancer has already invaded the serosal surface of the gut. For this reason it is clear that surgical treatment alone is inadequate.