Cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC in peritoneal recurrent ovarian cancer: experience and lessons learned

Purpose Peritoneal recurrence of ovarian cancer is frequent after primary surgery and chemotherapy and has poor long-term survival. De novo cytoreductive surgery is crucial with the potential to improve prognosis, especially when combined with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). Methods The sampled data of 40 consecutive patients were retrospectively analyzed. Thirty-one patients were treated with cytoreductive surgery combined with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Results No patient was lost in the perioperative period, and the combined procedure was performed with acceptable morbidity. Colon-preserving cytoreductive surgery was associated with reduced morbidity. Conclusions Patients suffering from peritoneal recurrence of ovarian cancer should be considered for radical reoperation with HIPEC in a center with expertise in multimodal therapeutic options. Organ-preserving cytoreductive surgery allows complete cytoreduction with the goal of decreasing morbidity.