The life and legacy of William Ernest Miles (1869-1947): a tribute to an admirable surgeon

Abstract

The present article aimed to review some important aspects regarding the work and life of the legendary English surgeon William Ernest Miles. His masterwork began at the beginning of the 20th century, when he devised the first radical procedure that aimed to control rectal cancer, after analyzing the poor outcomes of perineal resections for the disease. The famous 1908 publication, focusing on the technique and early results of abdominoperineal excision influenced numerous surgeons for decades, at a time when most rectal tumors were managed through rectal amputation, regardless of their location. Miles was recognized as a brilliant, fast, and skilled surgeon, and his fame attracted many surgeons to watch him at work in London at that time. He was also recognized as a gentle and kind man who became a trusted leader in coloproctology. In this context, he also made various contributions in the field of anorectal diseases, such as hemorrhoids, anal fistula, anal fissure, and rectal procidentia. Thus, he deserves the honors as the pioneer in the elaboration and refinement of a surgical technique that allowed a significant decrease in tumor recurrence and mortality. Furthermore, the Miles operation shifted the perspectives of rectal cancer, and for that his name will always be regarded as one of the giants in the history of colorectal surgery.

Total Mesorectal Excision, an erroneous anatomical term for the gold standard in rectal cancer treatment

“…Some procedures proposed were so extensive that they included resection of the sacrum and coccyx. Another advance was the abdomino-perineal resection proposed by Sir Ernest Miles in 1908, who published his results in The Lancet with a 42% perioperative mortality, mainly from bleeding or sepsis [4]. With contributions from Lockhart-Mummery and Mayo, modifications were proposed to diminish the morbidity and mortality.…”

Current guidelines for the management of rectal cancer patients: a review of recent advances and strategies

“…Rectal resection was historically studied and designed by the famous English surgeon William Ernest Miles ( Figure 2 ), who published his seminal paper in 1908 and initiated the era of radical resections to treat RC 16 , 22 .…”

Preliminary Exploration of Structure–Function Crosstalk in Colorectal Cancer Research: Protein Structuromics

“…Dr. Miles was a British surgeon who specialized in the treatment of CRC and was among the pioneers in developing surgical techniques to treat the disease 2 . According to the American Cancer Society, the 5-year survival rates for CRC are as follows: localized cancer: 91%, regional cancer: 72%, distant cancer: 14%, and all stages combined: 64% 3 .…”