ABSTRACT
<p><b>BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE</b>Sapylin is one of the biological response modifiers. It has been used in the comprehensive treatment for advanced cancer, and its clinical efficacy has been proved. This study was to evaluate the effect of preoperative intraperitoneal injection of Sapylin in treatment of advanced gastric cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Seventy-nine patients eligible for radical gastrectomy were randomly divided into the treatment group (Sapylin + mitomycin C, 40 patients) and the control group (mitomycin C alone, 39 patients). In the treatment group, 5 KE Sapylin was injected intraperitoneally 48 h before operation and 4 mg of mitomycin C was injected into peritoneal cavity before the closure of the peritoneum. In the control group, only 4 mg mitomycin C was injected into peritoneal cavity before the closure of the peritonium.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There was no operative mortality or duodenal stump leakage in the two groups. Postoperative complications were anastomotic leakage (2.5%, 1/40) and incision rupture (2.5%, 1/40) in the treatment group, and incision rupture (2.6%, 1/39) in the control group, with no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). The 3-year survival rate was significantly higher in the treatment group than in the control group (76.5% vs. 49.4%, P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Preoperative intraperitoneal injection of Sapylin can raise the 3-year survival rate after radical gastrectomy , without increasing the incidence rate of operative complications. Preoperative intraperitoneal injection of Sapylin is therefore a valuable therapy for advanced gastric cancer in clinic.</p>