Low-dose pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy (PIPAC) as an alternative therapy for ovarian cancer in an octogenarian patient.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Octogenarians with ovarian cancer limited to the abdomen may not be willing or able to undergo systemic chemotherapy. Low-dose pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy (PIPAC) with cisplatin and doxorubicin is a form of intra-abdominal chemotherapy which can be applied repeatedly and potentially prevents from the systemic side-effects of chemotherapy. CASE REPORT We present the case of an 84-year-old woman with laparoscopically and histologically confirmed ovarian cancer who refused to undergo systemic chemotherapy. She was treated with eight courses q 28-104 days of low-dose PIPAC with cisplatin at 7.5 mg/m(2) and doxorubicin at 1.5 mg/m(2) at 12 mmHg and 37 °C for 30 min. Objective tumor response was noted, defined as tumor regression on histology, and stable disease noted by peritoneal carcinomatosis index on repeated video-laparoscopy and abdominal computed tomographic scan. The treatment was well-tolerated with no Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) CTCAE >2. With a follow-up of 15 months, the patient is alive and clinically stable. The quality of life measured by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 demonstrated improvement over 5-6 months (global physical score, global health score, global quality of live) without cumulative increase of gastrointestinal toxicity. CONCLUSION: Low-dose PIPAC is a new form of intraperitoneal chemotherapy which may be applied repeatedly in octogenarian patients. PIPAC may be an alternative and well-tolerated treatment for selected octogenarian patients with ovarian cancer limited to the abdomen who cannot be treated with systemic chemotherapy.