Background: Improved prognosis can be achieved in selected patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) by major surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC).
Method: Sixty seven patients with PC were operated with the aim of complete macroscopical cytoreduction followed by HIPEC (using cisplatin, mitomycin or mitoxantrone). Quality of life was assessed with the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire.
Results: The patients had a variety of primary tumours, including appendix carcinomas (22/67). Mean operating time was 7 hours and complete cytoreduction was achieved in 58% of the patients. Overall morbidity was 34%. Post-operative mortality was 4.5%. The mean score for global health status of long-term survivors (20 questionnaires/25 patients) was 62.6 (73.3 for the control population, p=0.07). Functional status, particularly the role (56.4) and the social functioning (53.9) were impaired.
Conclusion: Cytoreductive surgery combined with HIPEC is associated with an increased morbidity and mortality. Complications are predominantly related to major surgery. Following this aggressive treatment, survivors may achieve a satisfactory quality of life.