ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Peritoneal metastasis from biliary carcinoma (PMC) is associated with poor prognosis when treated with chemotherapy. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact on survival of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), and compare with conventional palliative chemotherapy for patients with PMC. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective multicenter international database was retrospectively searched to identify all patients with PMC treated with a potentially curative CRS/HIPEC (CRS/HIPEC group). The overall survival (OS) was compared to patients with PMC treated with palliative chemotherapy (systemic chemotherapy group). Survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier method and compared with Log-Rank test. RESULTS: Between 1995 and 2015, 34 patients were included in the surgical group, and compared to 21 in the systemic chemotherapy group. In the surgical group, median peritoneal cancer index was 9 (range 3-26), macroscopically complete resection was obtained for 25 patients (73%). There was more gallbladder localization in the surgical group compared to the chemotherapy group (35% vs. 18%, p = 0.001). Median OS was 21.4 and 9.3 months for surgical and chemotherapy group, respectively (p=0.007). Three-year overall survival was 30% and 10% for surgical and chemotherapy group, respectively. CONCLUSION: Treatment with CRS and HIPEC for biliary carcinoma with peritoneal metastasis is feasible and may provide survival benefit when compared to palliative chemotherapy.