&NA;A safe, simple technique of curative local excision is used for early invasive carcinoma of the rectum. Strict criteria were applied in selecting patients for curative local excision: (1) the tumor was less than 3cm in diameter; (2) there were no clinically involved pelvic lymph nodes; (3) the tumor had a pedicle or pseudopedicle, and (4) subsequent histopathologic examination showed that the tumor was confined to the mucosa and submucosa of the bowel wall and completely excised. Curative local excision in 16 patients had no operative mortality or morbidity. The five‐year cancer specific survival was 100 per cent, which compares favorably with the 88 per cent cancer specific survival rate in 268 patients managed by conventional curative resection for Dukes' stage A tumors. When the 7.1 per cent operative mortality of resection was additionally considered, the five‐year survival fell to 81 per cent. The probability of lymph‐node metastases in primary rectal tumors confined to the mucosa and submucosa was found to be 6.2 per cent irrespective of their diameter,i.e., slightly less than the mortality of resection.