Cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC for peritoneal carcinomatosis in the elderly

The combined treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis with cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy is a rigorous surgical treatment, most suitable for young and good performance status patients. We evaluated the outcomes of elderly patients undergoing CRS and HIPEC for peritoneal carcinomatosis with careful perioperative care.

All consecutive patients 70 years of age or older who were treated for peritoneal carcinomatosis over the past five years were included. Primary outcomes were perioperative morbidity and mortality. Secondary outcomes were disease-free survival and overall survival.

From a pool of 100 patients, with a diagnosis of PC who underwent CRS and HIPEC in our center, we have included 30 patients at an age of 70 years or older and the results were compared to the patients younger than 70 years. The total morbidity rate was 50% versus 41.5% in the group younger than 70 years (NSS).The mortality rate was 3.3% in the elderly group versus 1.43%in the younger group (NSS). Median overall survival was 30 months in the older group versus 38 months in the younger group.

Cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC for peritoneal carcinomatosis may be safely performed with acceptable morbidity in selected elderly patients.