Treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis from colorectal cancer with cytoreductive surgery and perioperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy: state of the art and future prospects.

Peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC), a malignancy limited to the peritoneal surface, has a severe prognosis, but a new therapeutic approach has resulted in cure in some cases. The treatment consists of complete cytoreductive surgery in combination with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy or early postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy. At present, only about 25 centers in the United States offer this treatment, and only a few have treated more than 100 cases. This approach may be the most promising new therapy for PC from colorectal cancer but requires collaboration among medical oncologists, colorectal surgeons, and peritoneal surface malignancy treatment centers.