[Intraperitoneal chemotherapy in colorectal cancer: from the laboratory to the clinic]

Some patients operated of a colo-rectal cancer can be selected to receive a post-operative adjuvant chemotherapy to decrease the risk of recurrence. The authors report the results of experimental works on intraperitoneal chemotherapy (IPC). At the laboratory, they showed that this option significantly reduced the risk of recurrences in the most frequent sites of colo-rectal cancer recurrences: liver, lymph nodes, peritoneum and the surgical site. Moreover, the survival of the treated animals was significantly prolonged compared to the controls. In human, they proved the feasibility of a intraperitoneal chemotherapy managed into the immediate post-operative period. Low morbidity, null mortality and the interesting preliminary carcinological results suggest the interest of such an option which could be confirmed by a randomized multi-centric study currently in preparation.