Short-course HIPEC in Advanced Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

This study was initially designed to explore the safety and efficacy of short-course HIPEC in terms of median progression-free survival (PFS) as the primary outcome. However, due to slow accrual, the design was subsequently amended to explore the primary outcome measure of PD9 (i.e.: proportion of patients with disease progression or death occurring within 9 months of IDS plus HIPEC). The hypothesis was the short-course HIPEC could decrease PD9 with low rates of morbidity and mortality. In these settings, we explore a comprehensive treatment approach involving fast-track advanced cytoreductive surgery (CRS) plus short-course HIPEC at the time of IDS following NACT for high tumor burden patients with stage III-IV ovarian cancer. Advanced CRS was performed with standard peritonectomy procedures and visceral resections directed towards complete elimination of tumors from the abdominopelvic cavity, and fast-track recovery strategies were also applied to improve patient outcomes. HIPEC was performed according to the closed-abdomen technique using CDDP (25 mg/L of perfusate/m2, total limit of 240mg) or CDDP plus Doxorubicin (15mg/L) for 30 minutes, with an intra-abdominal target temperature of 41-43°C. Perfusate (2L/m2, ranging from 4L to 6L) was circulated using an extracorporeal circulation device (Performer HT; RAND, Medolla, Italy) at a flow rate of 700 ml/min. Systemic chemotherapy included the standard combination of carboplatin and paclitaxel as neo-adjuvant plus adjuvant regimens.