Objective: To study chemotherapeutic failure in the micrometastasis in peripheral blood of patients with colorectal carcinomas and its clinical significance.
Methods: We investigated the changes of micrometastasis in peripheral blood of patients with colorectal carcinomas before and after chemotherapy.
Results: The positive rate of CK2O mRNA in peripheral blood was 58.3%. Five more positive cases were detected 3 days after operation than before operation. After early short-term chemotherapy following operation, 22 cases turned to be negative. The maintaince of micrometastasis in peripheral blood after chemotherapy was significantly related to bcl-2 expression and p53 mutation in cancer tissues.
Conclusions: The early short-term chemotherapy after operation plays a role in controlling the micrometastasis of colorectal carcinoma. The study of chemotherapeutic effect on micrometastasis in peripheral blood and its relation with the related genes may contribute to the selection of drugs and plans of adjuvant treatment.