[Perioperative adjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of lymph node metastases of colorectal cancer].

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of perioperative adjuvant chemotherapy for the treatment and prevention of lymph node metastasis of colorectal cancer. Namely, ten thousand unit (U) of NCS, the high molecular weight anti-tumor agent, was injected into the subserosa of the colon (n = 51), the tumor-feeding arteries (n = 6), or the peripheral veins (n = 6) immediately after laparotomy, and tissue concentration of NCS in the regional lymph nodes and intestinal wall was measured. After the injection of NCS into the subserosa, the regional lymph nodes showed higher concentration of 4.55-6.34U/g regardless of metastasis. Concentrations in the lymph nodes after NCS into the tumor-feeding arteries showed similar high level as those after the subserosal injection in Group 1 lymph nodes (paracolic and epicolic nodes), but not in Group 2 lymph nodes (intermediate nodes). The injection of NCS into the peripheral veins demonstrated a wide range of 0.01-5.0U/g, half of them being not effective concentrations. Perioperative injection of NCS into the subserosa in the colorectal cancer was technically simple and safe and a large amount of the agent was taken into the regional lymph nodes. Therefore, this strategy may be a rational treatment for slight or jumping metastases in the lymph nodes.