Complete mesocolic excision for colon cancer: a surgical dilemma

In the recent years the concept of complete mesocolic excision (CME) with central vascular ligation (CVL) in colon cancer surgery was put beside that of total mesorectal excision in rectal cancer (1,2). However, it is not widely accepted since a little of confusion exists regarding the definition of CME, there are many technical aspects that vary among the reported series, and there are no solid data regarding its benefit on overall survival and local recurrence rates. The first thing we should determine is the end point for measuring the usefulness of CME.