Assessment of Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy to Eradicate Intraperitoneal Free Cancer Cells

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) to eradicate intraperitoneal free cancer cells and to explore the feasibility of cytological cure for peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC). METHODS: The peritoneal lavage fluid (or ascites) from 50 PC patients was collected before and after intraoperative HIPEC, respectively, for conventional cytology test, and conventional and real-time quantitative reverse transcript polymerase chain reaction detecting carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) mRNA and cytokeratin-20 (CK20) mRNA. The blood samples 3 days before and 7 days after intraoperative HIPEC were also collected for detecting the serum tumor markers, including CEA, carbohydrate antigen (CA) 125, and CA19-9. RESULTS: The positive rate of conventional cytology test before HIPEC versus after HIPEC was 100.0% versus 22.0% (P =.000). The positive rates of CEA mRNA and CK20 mRNA before HIPEC versus after HIPEC were 100.0% versus 86.0% (P =.012) and 100.0% versus 96.0% (P =.495), respectively. Moreover, after HIPEC, 18 (36.0%) patients had a decline in CEA mRNA (P =.000), and 17 (34.0%) patients had a decline in CK20 mRNA (P =.000). The positive rates of serum CEA, CA125, and CA199 before HIPEC versus after HIPEC were 52.0% versus 28.0% (P =.014), 52.0% versus 44.0% (P =.423), and 40.0% versus 28.0% (P =.205), respectively. CONCLUSION: HIPEC could effectively eradicate intraperitoneal free cancer cells and partially achieve cytological cure for PC.