AbstractOf 388 patients with carcinoma of the large bowel, 90 presented with obstruction, In this group 50 patients (56 per cent) were treated by a curative resection, 22 by primary resection and 28 by staged resection. The prognosis was considerably better after primary resection than after staged resection. Crude 5‐year survival figures are 50 and 25 per cent respectively. It is concluded that a prospective trial of immediate resection in the management of obstructing large bowel cancer seems justifie