Cytoreductive surgery (cs) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (hipec) in treatment of peritoneal surface malignances: report of a phase II clinical study.

Peritoneal surface malignancy is the expression of a spectrum of disease involving the peritoneum primary or secondary to gastrointestinal and gynecological neoplasms. Even if intraperitoneal therapy has now been demonstrated in multiple randomized trials to improve the outcome of chemotherapy for patients with optimally debulked or small volume ovarian carcinoma, it is believed that peritoneal carcinomatosis is considered an advanced stage of disease; for this reason, it is treated with systemic chemotherapy and surgery plays only a palliative role (1). In the last twenty years, some centres have developed surgical treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis that involves aggressive cytoreductive surgery associated with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. This treatment has improved and prolonged survival, despite the associated high morbidities and mortalities (3-14).