Purpose: To evaluate the short-term outcomes of patients of pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) of appendiceal origin treated with cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) at two tertiary Indian centers.
Methods: Data was prospectively collected from January 2011 to January 2016. Palliative procedures were excluded. HIPEC was performed by the coliseum technique using either a mitomycin or oxaliplatin-based regimen.
Results: 77 procedures were performed on 71 patients. The average time interval between diagnosis and CRS was 15.3 months. Of the tumors, 22.1% were high grade, 77.9% low grade and 24.6% intermediate grade. The median peritoneal carcinomatosis index (PCI) was 26 (<25 in 70.1% and >30 in 38.9%). Completeness of cytoreduction score (CCS)-1 was achieved in 75.3% (CC-0 in 42.9%). The mean number of bowel anastomoses was 1.1 and the mean number of organs resected per patient was 3.3. Of the 77 patients, 71% had resection of 3 or more organs and 50.6% had resection of 4 or more organs. Grade 3-4 complications occurred in 42.9% of the patients and the perioperative mortality was 5.2%. The projected 5-year overall survival (OS) was 62.3% and the 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) was 71% at a median follow up of 13 months.
Conclusion: CRS and HIPEC can be used to treat PMP with an acceptable morbidity and mortality in Indian patients. Lack of early referrals leads to a large portion of patients presenting with extensive disease and an inferior survival which should improve with increasing awareness about the procedure and its results.