Objective: To evaluate the clinical outcome and prognosis of patients with primary peritoneal carcinoma (PPC) treated with cytoreductive surgery and neoadjuvant chemotherapy after laparoscopic diagnosis.
Material and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 29 patients with PPC, treated between March 2001 and June 2009 at three hospitals. All patients underwent laparoscopy to diagnose and evaluate whether they were good candidates for optimal cytoreductive surgery. After confirmed to be PPC histologically, the patients who were not suitable to undergo optimal cytoreductive surgery received chemotherapy for three to six cycles before operation, and then underwent cytoreductive surgery, followed with chemotherapy again for six cycles. The study included patient demographics, surgery procedures, surgery stage, pathologic findings, chemotherapy programs, and outcomes.
Results: The mean age of the 29 patients was 58.5 years. One patient was at Stage IIIB, 23 at Stage IIIC, and five at Stage IV. The rate of optimal cytoreductive surgery was 79.3%. At the time of this review, three patients had stable disease--two with progressive disease, eight were partial responders, and 16 were complete responders; 16 patients were alive without evidence of disease, seven were alive with disease, and six had died from disease. The mean and median overall survival time was 46 and 48 months.
Conclusion: Combination of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and cytoreductive surgery after laparoscopic diagnosis and evaluation is effective in the treatment of patients with PPC.