Comparative Effectiveness of HIPEC Following Interval Debulking Surgery in Patients With Advanced-stage Ovarian Cancer

Overview

Ovarian cancer is a lethal malignancy and reported as a fifth leading cause of death in all age in the developed country. Most of the ovarian cancer patients are diagnosed at advanced stages due to an inadequate screening tool and a lack of clinical symptoms. Optimal cytoreductive surgery with no gross residual disease followed platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy has been the most effective therapeutic strategy in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer. However, the optimal surgical procedure is not always possible, especially in patients with extensive disease or women with poor performance status. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy(NAC) followed interval debulking surgery (IDS) is an alternative therapeutic option for these patients. There is growing interest in the use of HIPEC (hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy) for ovarian cancer, and early data on HIPEC as a component of front-line therapy of advanced ovarian cancer are encouraging. However, intraperitoneal chemotherapy is not actively used in the treatment of ovarian cancer due to the catheter-related complications or inconvenience. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of HIPEC after interval debulking surgery in advanced ovarian cancer patients.

GOG 172 trial showed a dramatic improvement of overall survival in patients with stage III disease treated with intraperitoneal cisplatin and paclitaxel compared with those with intravenous administration. Currently, prospective cohort study showed a survival benefit of intraperitoneal chemotherapy compared with intravenous chemotherapy. Despite this improvement, intraperitoneal chemotherapy is not widely used as standard therapy owing to the high rate of adverse effects and inconvenience of administering therapy intraperitoneally. Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is a multi-modal approach with combined intraperitoneal chemotherapy and hyperthermia. It maintains the theoretical benefit of intraperitoneal chemotherapy and reduces most of the adverse events from catheter-related problems with delivery of the chemotherapeutic agent at the end of surgery. In addition, hyperthermia increases the penetration of chemotherapy at the peritoneal surface and chemo-sensitivity. In this trial, we aim to evaluate the efficacy and safety of HIPEC procedures performed after interval debulking surgery in patients with advanced ovarian cancer.