Colorectal cancer ranks fifth in general cancer morbidity in the Moldavian SSR and second among digestive tumors. Within 1970-1979, the morbidity rate for rectal cancer increased 2.2-fold (from 3.0 to 6.70/0000), cancer of the colon--1.4-fold (from 4.4 to 6.00/0000). Rectal cancer morbidity showed a 4.30/0000 rise in male patients, matched by a 3.20/0000 rise in females. The colonic cancer morbidity rates increased by 1.5 and 1.80/0000, respectively. The results of the analysis of the said indexes suggest that by 1990 the rectal cancer morbidity rate will have reached 8.9 +/- 1.1 and colonic cancer--7.3 +/- 2.40/0000. By 1990, the rate of morbidity for cancer of the large bowel will have surpassed that for stomach cancer and it will rank first among tumors of the digestive tract should the present-day trends of morbidity remain unchanged.