PURPOSE:Total mesorectal excision has been advocated for rectal cancer, but its use in upper rectal and rectosigmoid tumors remains a point of debate.METHODS:One hundred seventeen patients with rectal cancers were subjected to a prospective policy of total mesorectal excision for mid and low rectal cancers and a wide (5 cm) distal margin mesorectal excision for upper rectal and rectosigmoid cancers.RESULTS:Forty‐one patients underwent ultralow anterior resection, 10 underwent abdominoperineal excision, 64 had anterior resection and 2 had Hartmann's procedure. The median follow‐up was 39 months. Forty‐three patients had a defunctioning ileostomy. Three patients (7.3 percent) had anastomotic leaks after ultralow anterior resection with total mesorectal excision. Ninety‐three patients had palliative resections. There were four locoregional recurrences in this group, giving an actuarial locoregional recurrence rate of 9.3 percent at five years. The actuarial locoregional recurrence rate after anterior resection was 6.5 percent at five years. The actuarial five‐year cancer‐specific survival rate was 81.4 percent at five years.CONCLUSION:These results demonstrate that a policy of wide excision of the mesorectum for upper rectal and rectosigmoid cancer and total mesorectal excision for mid and low rectal cancer is associated with a low locoregional recurrence rate and may be as efficacious as routine total mesorectal excision for all rectal cancers.