Unresectability during open surgical exploration in planned cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy are the treatment of choice for selected patients with peritoneal metastasis. Despite a stringent selection process, some patients were found to be unresectable only at surgery, which leads to disappointment and poor utilisation of limited infrastructural resources. This study aims to determine the pre-operative factors associated with unresectability in planned CRS and HIPEC. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 172 consecutive patients eligible for CRS and HIPEC at the National Cancer Centre Singapore from April 2004 to May 2014 was performed. Pre-operative factors (clinical presentation, disease factors, and investigation findings) between the unresectable (13%) and the successful groups (87%) were compared. RESULTS: Patient demographics between the two cohorts were comparable. In terms of clinical presentation, the unresectable group was more likely to present with bloating (p = .00), altered bowel habits (p = .04), abdominal distension (p = .00), palpable abdominal masses (p = .00) and palpable pouch of Douglas nodules (p = .00). Differences were also noted in disease factors with the unresectable group having more high-grade tumours (p = .01), inadequate initial resections (p = .01), progression through chemotherapy (p = .00) and shorter median disease-free intervals (p = .03). In addition, investigations in the unresectable group revealed more patients with elevated tumour markers (p = .01), thrombocytosis (p = .00) and computed tomography findings of ascites (p = .00), omental thickening (p = .00), lymphadenopathy (p = .02) and small bowel disease (p = .00). CONCLUSIONS: Significant factors associated with unresectability that were identified in our study could potentially create a new treatment algorithm and refine current selection process to exclude patients at risk of unresectability in planned CRS and HIPEC.

Quality of life after cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy: an Asian perspective.

BACKGROUND: Data on quality of life (QOL) after cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS + HIPEC) is scarce in the Asian population. This study assesses QOL outcomes after CRS and HIPEC in an Asian cancer center. METHODS: Patients who completed CRS + HIPEC 6-18 months ago (27 patients) were enrolled in the study. QOL was measured via the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 questionnaires. The scores were compared with a group of 393 disease-free cancer patients, not on active treatment, who had ECOG scores of either 0 or 1. The 1-sample t test was used to compare differences in QOL scores between the 2 groups. RESULTS: A total of 27 patients were analyzed, of which 22 (81 %) were females. Median age was 51 years (15-59 years). CRS + HIPEC were performed for ovarian cancer in 15 patients (55 %), appendiceal carcinoma in 5 patients (19 %), and colorectal carcinoma in 4 patients (15 %). The median intraoperative peritoneal carcinomatosis index (PCI) score was 15 (2-31) while the completeness of CC score was 0 and 1 in 25 and 2 patients, respectively. The median duration after CRS + HIPEC was 10 months (6-16 months). Global health status and functional and symptom scores were largely similar between patients after CRS + HIPEC and the control group. Cognitive functioning scores and fatigue scores were significantly better in the group after CRS + HIPEC (p = 0.014 and 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: QOL after CRS and HIPEC can be equivalent to that of well-functioning, disease-free cancer patients.