The long-term cancer specific survival based on individual follow-up and analysis of prospectively collected data from 1061 patients undergoing resection for carcinoma of the rectum is presented. All patients were operated on and managed by one surgeon. Survival data for 978 cases were analyzed according to the methods of Kaplan and Meier, and Gehan. Results have been presented as cancer specific survival times in months and as percentage survivor rates at five-year intervals. The median overall cancer specific survival time was 96 months. Five, ten, 15, and 20-year survival rates were 56, 49, 47, and 46%, respectively. After a potentially curative resection of the tumor, the corresponding percentages were 69, 60, 57, and 56%. Age and sex were not significant prognostic factors. A death rate from recurrent cancer of nil was seen after 15.4 years. At this point, the cancer specific survival rates were 77% for patients in Stage A, 59% in Stage B, 37% in Stage C, and 9% for patients with tumors invading adjacent organs (D1), while no patient with macroscopic metastases to distant organs (Stage D2) survived beyond four and a half years (median, 11 months).