[Intra-arterial regional chemotherapy in the combined treatment of stage-III cancer of the stomach].

The report discusses a method of long-term catheterization of the celiac artery by lumbo-transaortal access. Intraarterial regional chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil was administered to 56 cases of gastric cancer, stage III, before and after surgery. A significant drop in postoperative complication rate from 47.8 +/- 6% after surgery to 16.0 +/- 4% after combination treatment was recorded. During two years after operation, metastases and recurrences were registered in II out of 52 patients receiving intraarterial chemotherapy (21. +/- 5%), as compared with 34 out of 58 (58.6 +/- 6%) in controls without chemotherapy.