Abstract
The danger of cancer is great enough to warrant excision of essentially all polypoid lesions of the colon that can be demonstrated radio graphically. Even pathologists who have pleaded for conservative therapy do not advocate neglect. The operative mortality attending resection for polypoid cancer at the Massachusetts General Hospital has been less than 2 per cent. Prognosis is least favorable for patients with cancer arising in papillary adenomas. Conservative therapy for the latter lesions can be extremely hazardous.