Efficacy of Surgical Treatment of Peritoneal Carcinomatosis in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in Ukraine. Prognosis for patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis is unfavorable, and life expectancy is typically less than 6 months. Cytoreductive surgery was introduced as a new method of treating these patients to prolong their survival time. The objective of the research was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of cytoreductive surgery, chemotherapy and symptomatic treatment of patients with colorectal cancer and peritoneal carcinomatosis. Materials and methods. The research included 93 patients with colorectal cancer and peritoneal carcinomatosis. All patients were divided into 3 groups depending on the method of treatment being used after the detection of peritoneal carcinomatosis: Group I - cytoreductive surgery, Group II - palliative chemotherapy, Group III - symptomatic treatment. Cumulative overall survival in three groups was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results. Statistically significant difference in overall survival was observed between patients treated with different methods. The median overall survival of patients of Group I (n=44) was 15.5 months; the median overall survival of patients of Group II (n=27) was 5.9 months; in patients of Group III (n=22) it was 3.1 months (p < 0.0001). The analysis of patients’ survival in Group I depending on the application of palliative chemotherapy after cytoreductive surgery showed no significant difference in overall survival: 16.5 months with chemotherapy versus 14.2 months without chemotherapy (p = 0.12). Conclusions. Overall survival of patients with colorectal cancer and peritoneal carcinomatosis was higher when treated with cytoreductive surgery compared to palliative chemotherapy and symptomatic treatment. Palliative chemotherapy had no effect on survival after cytoreductive surgery for peritoneal carcinomatosis. ?