Is Cytoreductive Surgery Possible in Cervical Cancer Peritoneal Carcinomatosis?

The number of cases of cervical cancer with recurrence and peritoneal carcinomatosis is limited. In our study, we aimed to present the results of cytoreductive surgery hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy treatment and its 3-year early period results in patients with peritoneal metastases due to cervical cancer.

Data of 306 patients who had undergone cytoreductive surgery hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy between May 2016 and 2021 because of intra-abdominal metastases were collected prospectively and evaluated retrospectively. Ten cases who had undergone cytoreductive surgery plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy due to cervical peritoneal carcinomatosis were included in this study.

Average time of operation was 5 (range = 3-6) hours, mean average of peritoneal carcinomatosis index score was 12.3 (range = 7-36), and mean average of completeness of cytoreduction score was 1 in 2 patients and 0 in 8 patients. No mortality was recorded in 30 days postoperatively. Four patients relapsed and died because of pneumonia, coronavirus disease, pulmonary embolism, and terminal illness. These patients died at 2, 5, 6, and 12 months, respectively. Six patients are still alive and early period tumor relapse has not been reported during their follow-ups.

This study has a limited number of patients and the results are early period results. The follow-up of patients were not long term. Therefore, it is hard to say that cytoreductive surgery hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy could be of any benefit looking at the results. Long-term results should be waited. Also, multicentered randomized cohort study with large sample size is required to evaluate this invasive procedure.