Today, peritoneal carcinomatosis or peritoneal cancer is almost always diagnosed as a complex course of a cancer disease. Especially in recent years, considerable improvements in the treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis have been achieved, mainly through the use of so-called cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC).
First, all visible tumour nodes are removed from the abdominal cavity with a correspondingly complex operation and the abdominal cavity is then rinsed under anaesthetic with chemotherapy. Suitable tumours for this treatment are metastases of colon and rectum cancer, malignant neoplasms of the appendix (e.g. mucinous appendix carcinoma), diseases of the peritoneum itself (e.g. pseudomyxomeric peritonitis). For other tumours, for example stomach cancer, this method is only used in selected situations.
Not all patients with peritoneal metastasis or the above mentioned tumor types get a survival advantage by using peritonectomy and HIPEC. It is important to identify all suitable patients. This requires particular experience and specialization of the treatment team and includes complex diagnostic procedures such as CT, MRI and PET examinations and also diagnostic laparoscopies in the decision-making process. The decision to undergo HIPEC therefore always depends on the type of tumour, the extent of the infestation, the patient's wishes and the surgeon's experience with the success of an operation in the particular situation. Our therapy recommendations are always made on an interdisciplinary basis in the Tumour Board.