Clinical research of intraperitoneal chemotherapy plus Shenmai Injection in treating advanced colorectal cancer

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of intraperitoneal chemotherapy (IPC) plus Shenmai Injection (SMI) in treating advanced colorectal cancer following radical resections. METHODS: Fifty-eight cases of colorectal cancer in stage B2 and C following radical resections were divided into two groups: SMI+IPC group (36 cases) and IPC group (22 cases). In the SMI+IPC group, IPC (5-fluorouracil combined with cisplatin) plus SMI was administered, while in the IPC group, only IPC was administered. Clinical symptoms, quality of life (Karnofsky score), white blood cell counts, natural killer cells and CD4/CD8 were observed, and disease-free survival (DFS) rate was also evaluated. RESULTS: The total short-term response rate was 83.33% in the SMI+IPC group, significantly higher than 63.64% in the IPC group (P<0.05). The data of clinical symptoms, quality of life, white blood cell counts, natural killer cells and CD4/CD8 in the SMI+IPC group were also significantly improved as compared with those in the IPC group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). In the SMI+IPC group, 1-, 3- and 5-year DFS rates were 91.7% (33/36), 77.8% (28/36) and 72.2% (26/36) respectively, and those in the IPC group were 90.9% (20/22), 72.7% (16/22) and 45.5% (10/22) respectively. The 5-year DFS rate was significantly improved in the SMI+IPC group as compared with that in the IPC group (P<0.05), while the 1-year and 3-year DFS rates had no significant difference between these two groups. CONCLUSION: IPC plus SMI is effective in treating post-operative patients with advanced colorectal cancer.