Effect and safety analysis of raltitrexed peritoneal perfusion in patients with intermediate and advanced colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CC) is a major global health burden, and effective management of intermediate and advanced stages remains a clinical challenge. The present study investigated the effect and safety of peritoneal raltitrexed infusion in patients with intermediate and advanced CC. Data from 80 patients with intermediate and advanced CC who visited the Affiliated Hospital of Jiujiang University (Jiujiang, China) between August 2018 and April 2021 were retrospectively analysed. Among them, 42 patients were administered raltitrexed peritoneal infusion as the observation group (OG), and the remaining 38 patients were administered equal amounts of saline as the control group (CG) to compare therapeutic effects. Changes in routine blood indicators [such as number of white blood cells (WBCs), neutrophils (NEs), red blood cells (RBCs) and platelets (PLTs)] and tumour markers (carcinoembryonic antigen and cancer antigen 19‑9) before and after 3 days of treatment were compared. Adverse reactions that occurred during treatment were also recorded. Compared with those before surgery, WBC and NE counts were significantly lower (P<0.05), and RBC and PLT counts were significantly greater (P<0.05) in both groups after surgery. The counts in the CG were markedly greater than those in the OG after surgery (P<0.05). Tumour marker levels were significantly higher before surgery than after surgery in both groups (P<0.05). The patients in the CG had a significantly lower disease remission rate than those in the OG (P=0.014). In conclusion, raltitrexed peritoneal infusion chemotherapy is effective and safe for the treatment of patients with intermediate and advanced CC; it can effectively reduce serum tumour marker levels and adverse reaction incidence and improve the survival quality of patients. Raltitrexed peritoneal infusion chemotherapy thus exhibits high clinical application value.