Intraoperative local adjuvant cancer chemotherapy for carcinoma of the thoracic esophagus.

Two forms of effective, supplemental, intraoperative chemotherapy for carcinoma of the esophagus have been devised, i.e., Bleomycin (BLM)-Spongel aimed at prevention of a local recurrence and trans-lymph-nodal administration of BLM for prevention of recurrence in the intramediastinal lymph nodes. Fifty-one patients given one or both of these local cancer chemotherapy had a lower incidence of local and/or lymph node recurrence in twelve months after surgery than did the controls. As both procedures are simple and there are few adverse effects, further application of this form of chemotherapy is warranted.