Introducing Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy into Gynecological Oncology Practice - Feasibility and Safety Considerations: Single-Center Experience.

Background: Within the surgical oncology community interest is increasingly focusing on combining surgical cytoreduction and regional chemotherapeutic drug delivery to manage solid abdominal tumors. In particular, the role of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is evolving for treating epithelial ovarian carcinomas (EOCs), as EOCs remain confined to the peritoneal cavity for most of their natural history. Currently there is no evidence from prospective trials to confirm an overall survival benefit associated with HIPEC. In addition, there are no generally accepted regimens, which results in heterogeneous clinical procedures.

Methods: We have initiated a HIPEC program at our institution and completed a phase I study of HIPEC with cisplatin in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent EOC. The data have been published and prove the feasibility of this approach. In the process of introducing HIPEC, several safety measures had to be taken into consideration.

Results: We present the implications and requirements of introducing HIPEC in clinical practice and discuss our proposed procedure referring to the recent literature.

Conclusion: HIPEC is feasible and can be performed safely in daily gynecological oncology routine provided that certain considerations and precautions are taken into account during its introduction to guarantee a proper and safe operating sequence.