After thirty years of experience with early postoperative intraperitoneal 5-fluorouracil now saying goodbye.

In the management of colorectal and appendiceal peritoneal metastases, intraperitoneal 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) has been used in 3 different ways. It has been used as part of an early postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy (EPIC) regimen along with EPIC mitomycin C. This EPIC mitomycin C plus EPIC 5-FU has been shown to be equivalent or inferior to HIPEC. Because it is more work intensive than HIPEC and not superior, its use should be abandoned if HIPEC is available. A second way to use intraperitoneal 5-FU is along with HIPEC. Several studies suggest a survival advantage for the combination of HIPEC with EPIC 5-FU. However, patient ineligibility for EPIC 5-FU in high-risk CRS is more likely the cause for the alleged survival advantage attributed to the combination. A third use of intraperitoneal 5-FU is long-term through a peritoneal access device. This plan for 5-FU use has shown favorable results in three randomized controlled studies. Normothermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (NIPEC) with 5-FU should be considered as a regional chemotherapy component of a randomized trial for prevention or treatment of peritoneal metastases from colorectal or appendiceal cancer. Intravenous oxaliplatin combined with NIPEC 5-FU has been suggested as a bidirectional adjuvant regimen.