Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy with cisplatin: Amifostine prevents acute severe renal impairment

Surgical cytoreduction combined with intraperitoneal chemo-hyperthermia (HIPEC) has shown to provide survival benefits in the management of some peritoneal carcinomatosis. The cisplatin (CP) used in HIPEC carries a risk of renal impairment (RI). This risk could be reduced by administration of amifostine (A). The aim of our study was to assess the utility of A in preventing RI during IPCH with CP.

Retrospective study including patients who underwent HIPEC between January 2007 and June 2013. The HIPEC involved administration of CP and mitomycin C, between 41 and 43 °C. The peri-anaesthetic management was consistent to use A after 2010. Renal function was assessed from the measured creatinine clearance (CreatCl) and the change between D0 and D4 was compared between patients who received A (group A+) and those who did not (group A-). Severe RI was defined as the development of a CreatCl of <30 ml/min. The statistical analysis used a Student t-test and Fischer's exact test. A p-value of <0.05 was deemed to be statistically significant.

Over the studied period, seventy five patients underwent HIPEC and the findings from fifty two patients were analysed: thirty one in group A+ and twenty one in group A-. The change in mean CreatCl from D0 to D4 did not differ between the two groups although between D1 and D4 a significantly higher percentage of severe RI was seen in group A-.

This study has shown A to offer benefit in terms of reducing severe RI when CP is used in HIPEC. These results, however, will need to be confirmed in prospective series on larger numbers of patients.