ConclusionsWe believe that carcinoma of the colon is a multicentric organ disease and that a significant number of curable patients are lost because of the development of synchronous or metachronous tumors. These may progress to an inoperable stage before recognition.This group of patients can be saved by a near‐total colectomy at the time of the initial procedure.More radical resection of the colon did not increase mortality or morbidity rates to a significant degree in our select group of patients. The ease of follow up by sigmoidoscopy has made it feasible to detect and treat second lesions at the earliest possible moment.In those patients whose prognosis is good for a long life expectancy and in whom the local lesion is considered curable, near‐total colectomy appears to be the operation of choice for carcinoma of the colon.