Adjuvant intraportal chemotherapy for Dukes B2 and C colorectal cancer also receiving systemic treatment: results of a multicenter randomized trial. Groupe Régional d'Etude du Cancer Colo-Rectal (Belgium).

In a randomized trial, the authors evaluated the possible adjuvant activity of intraportal chemotherapy (with 5-fluorouracil 500 mg/m2/day in continuous infusion for 7 days and mitomycin C 10 mg/m2 at day 7) administered after surgery to half of the patients who underwent a full resection for Dukes B2 or C colorectal cancer. The procedure appeared manageable and safe. Two hundred and sixty patients were initially randomized, among whom 173 were finally considered as fully evaluable after having completed six courses of systemic chemotherapy. The reasons for withdrawal were basically tumoral ones and patients or doctors compliance. After a median follow-up of 4.5 years, no difference could be observed in the patients evolution assessed as relapses or deaths rate, or as relapse-free (at 5 years: 68% in the portal treatment group versus 70% in the control group) or overall survival (at 5 years: 76 versus 74%). The frequency of hepatic metastases (21 versus 18%) was also similar in both groups.