Prophylactic chemotherapeutic hyperthermic intraperitoneal perfusion reduces peritoneal metastasis in gastric cancer: a retrospective clinical study

Background Peritoneal metastasis is the most frequent failure in gastric cancer. This study evaluated the role of prophylactic chemotherapeutic hyperthermic intraperitoneal perfusion (CHIP) in patients after D2 dissection. Methods Gastric cancer patients after D2 dissection were enrolled in this study. Patients received either chemotherapy (IV group) or CHIP (CHIP group). Sites of recurrence or metastasis, disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS) and adverse events were evaluated. Results Twenty-two patients received CHIP treatment, and 21 patients received chemotherapy alone. The median DFS time was 24.5 and 36.5 months in the IV group and CHIP group ( P = 0.044), respectively. The median OS time was 33.1 months in the IV group and not reached in the CHIP group ( P = 0.037). We also found that CHIP could reduce the total recurrence/metastasis rate, especially that of peritoneal metastasis. In the subgroup analysis, DFS and OS were both superior in deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) patients than in proficient MMR (pMMR) patients. Conclusion This hypothesis-generating study indicates that CHIP might be feasible for gastric cancer patients after D2 resection.