title: Preliminary investigation of intraperitoneal raltitrexed in patients with gastric cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Peritoneal implantation metastasis of gastric cancer is the major reason for cancer recurrence after radical operations. As a new chemotherapeutic agent, raltitrexed has been widely used in intravenous chemotherapy for many kinds of cancers. However, no study has reported the efficacy and safety of raltitrexed in intraperitoneal chemotherapy. This study aimed to explore the safety of intraperitoneal chemotherapy with raltitrexed during gastric cancer operation compared to normal saline (NS) rinsing of the abdominal cavity.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this prospective study, 91 gastric cancer patients undergoing surgery and reconstruction were consecutively enrolled and randomly assigned into two groups. Raltitrexed in NS (500 ml) was injected into the abdominopelvic cavity for the patients in the RT group (n = 48), while for the patients in the group NS (n = 43), only NS (500 ml) was injected. The postoperative complications, gas passage time, and adverse effects, according to NCI-CTCAE v3.0, were compared between the two groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant differences in age, sex, cancer pathological type, clinical stage or operation method between the two groups (all P >0.05). No significant difference was observed in adverse effects and postoperative complications between the two groups (all P >0.05). No significant change was found in the levels of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, lactate dehydrogenase, blood urea nitrogen, and alanine aminotransferase before and after the operation for both groups (all P >0.05). All adverse events were mild or moderate by NCI-CTCAE v3.0 (National Cancer Institute common terminology criteria for adverse events) grade.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of the present study demonstrate that intraperitoneal chemotherapy with raltitrexed after gastric cancer operation is safe and could be used for patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of abdominal Surgery, Sichuan Cancer Hospital, No.55 of Renmin South Rd., Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, China. zhaopingmedsci@163.com.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of abdominal Surgery, Sichuan Cancer Hospital, No.55 of Renmin South Rd., Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, China. xzhdz188@163.com.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of abdominal Surgery, Sichuan Cancer Hospital, No.55 of Renmin South Rd., Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, China. tang.lc@163.com.
authors.forename: Lingchao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of abdominal Surgery, Sichuan Cancer Hospital, No.55 of Renmin South Rd., Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan Province, China. zhouxiang19791019@163.com.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009366:Neoplasm Seeding; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011799:Quinazolines / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013876:Thiophenes / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D011799:Quinazolines; D013876:Thiophenes; C068874:raltitrexed