Angiography for diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer

To evaluate the role of preoperative angiography in the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer.

The authors performed selective arterial cannulation by Seldinger's method in 47 patients to locate the primary cancer and to diagnose metastasis to the liver. Each patient was then given intra-arterial regional chemotherapy, and received 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu, 1 000 mg), mitomycin C (MMC, 20 mg), and cisplatinum (CDDP, 80 mg).

The location and shape of each tumor were observed, including metastatic tumors in the liver, in 42 of the 47 (89.4 %) patients. The site of the primary tumor was difficult to identify in 5 cases because the patients had a recurrence of cancer. Arterial chemotherapy was performed successfully in all patients. The authors recorded no partial or significant morbidity resulted from angiography. The only incident was bleeding from the artery puncture site in one patient, which was successfully stopped by general medication.

Preoperative selective arterial angiography can help the diagnosis and locate primary tumors and to detect liver metastasis. At the same time, regional arterial chemotherapy can be an important form of preoperative therapy.