Cytoreductive Surgery Plus Platinum-Based HIPEC in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer...

open access:
Cytoreductive Surgery Plus Platinum-Based Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: A Promising Integrated Approach to Improve Locoregional Control

 First Published Online March 23, 2016

....Finally, in a recent critical appraisal [16], it was hypothesized that, as reported in colorectal cancer [38], a disappearance of the HIPEC-related survival benefits might be possible with a long-term follow-up. In this context, the results of our recently published 7-year analysis demonstrating a very favorable postrelapse survival of approximately 60 months does not support such a hypothesis [35], and our data also appear reasonable considering the relevant differences between ovarian and colorectal cancer in terms of sensitivity to cytotoxic agents.

In conclusion, because ovarian cancer remains the biggest challenge for gynecologic oncologists, it is important for the scientific community to actively investigate and fully exploit every novel promising therapeutic strategy. The addition of HIPEC to cytoreductive surgery is supported by a solid biological and clinical rationale, with preliminarily encouraging safety and survival data, particularly in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent disease. The rigorous analysis of the results from ongoing phase III randomized clinical trials will clarify in the future whether, and how, this therapeutic approach should be introduced into routine clinical practice.