OBJECTIVES: I. Evaluate the clinical usefulness of preoperative irinotecan in patients with high risk, technically resectable metastatic colorectal cancer that is refractory to fluorouracil. II. Evaluate prospectively the relationship between expression of selected molecular determinants of response and clinical responsiveness to irinotecan in these patients. III. Determine the effect of treatment with irinotecan on the expression of putative response determinants in these patients.