John Spiliotis

Background: The introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitors has revolutionised the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs), yet the role of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) in peritoneal GISTosis remains controversial. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients with peritoneal GISTosis who underwent CRS plus HIPEC in an 18-year period. We analysed the clinicopathological characteristics and evaluated the perioperative and long-term outcomes based on the extent of disease (peritoneal cancer index, PCI), the resection (completeness of cytoreduction score) and the IM-administration. The survival factors were also analysed and the Kaplan–Meier estimator to model and estimate overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). The median follow-up period was 72 months (range, 12–146). Results: A total of 25 patients (M:F = 15:10) with a median age of 57 years (range, 32–69) underwent CRS with HIPEC for peritoneal GIST metastases, detected either synchronously (n = 11) or metachronously (n = 14). The media PCI score was 9 (range, 4–20) and complete cytoreduction was achieved in 80%. Grade III complications were observed in two patients, whereas there was no postoperative mortality. Neoadjuvant imatinib-mesylate (IM) therapy was administered in 60% of patients who detected with metachronous metastases (n = 8/14), whereas adjuvant IM therapy was administered in 19 of 25 patients. Median OS was 62 months (95% CI = 22.8–101.2). Median OS and DFS for patients with PCI scores ≤ 10 were significantly longer compared to those with PCI scores > 10 (p = 0.009 and p = 0.024, respectively). Patients with CC scores of 0–1 had a significantly longer OS compared to those with CC scores of 2 (p = 0.005) and 3 (p = 0.002) and longer PFS compared to those with CC scores of 3 (p = 0.005). The need for imatinib did not significantly impact OS (p = 0.240) or PFS (p = 0.243). Conclusions: CRS combined with HIPEC shows promising results in peritoneal GISTosis, especially in patients with lower PCI and CC scores. Until larger studies validate its safety and efficacy, it should be primarily performed in expert hands in specialised peritoneal surface oncology centres.

Article Implementation of ERAS guidelines in patients undergoing CRS and HIPEC: need for multicentre trial was published on March 1, 2024 in the journal Pleura and Peritoneum (volume 9, issue 1).

Introduction: Polycystic Ovarian Disorder (PCOD) is a prevalent endocrine illness in women of reproductive age. It has hormonal abnormalities, irregular menstrual cycles and tiny ovarian cysts. Lifestyle and food affect PCOD development and maintenance, coupled with Peritoneal metastasis from gastric cancer remains a major problem. The aim of our study is a retrospective analysis in two different groups with used PIPAC as neo-adjuvant management of synchronous peritoneal metastasis. Group A: 42 patients received as neo-adjuvant treatment 2 cycles of PIPAC (Doxorubicin 3 mgr/m2, cisplatin 10 mgr/m2) and 6 cycles of neo-adjuvant systemic chemotherapy with FLOT and we performed CRS+HIPEC (with cisplatin 80 mgr/m2, mitomycin 35 mgr/m2) for 90 min and 6 cycles of adjuvant systemic chemotherapy with FLOT. Group B: 26 patients received 4 cycles of neo-adjuvant systemic chemotherapy with FLOT, we performed CRS+HIPEC as Group A and 4 cycles of systemic chemotherapy with FLOT. For patients of Group A, the Median survival time is 46months.Group B patients had a median OS of 36 months. For patients of Group A, the Median Disease Time (DFS) was 37 months. Group B patients had a median DFS of 30 months. For each degree increase in the PCI pre score and for the same treatment group, the PCI posr score increases by 0.573 degrees. Group 2, for the same PCIpre score, have a 163% higher PCI posr score. On patients with singet ring cell adenocarcinoma there is a statistical significance difference in OS for PIPAC group. Patients of group A had a median OS of 26 months. For patients of group B, the median OS was 14 months. Morbidity and mortality in both groups are 53,4% and 4,7% for Group A and 44,5% and 5,5% for Group B respectively. The neo-adjuvant PIPAC with systemic chemotherapy might be a promising approach for patients with peritoneal metastasis from gastric cancer. PIPAC is a safe and well tolerated procedure.

Objectives: Peritoneal metastasis (PM) is a poor prognostic factor for all malignancies and remains difficult to treat with systemic chemotherapy because of poor peritoneal vascularization, resulting in limited drug delivery and penetration into tissues. Our study aims to investigate the efficacy and safety of different locoregional treatment protocols with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), Early Peritoneal Chemotherapy (EPIC), Pressurized Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (PIPAC) in the management of advanced colorectal cancer with metachronous PM. Methods: A total of 42 patients were divided into three groups, as follows. Group A: After neoadjuvant systemic chemotherapy, 15 patients received cytoreductive surgery (CRS) + hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) and then adjuvant systemic chemotherapy. Group B: After neoadjuvant systemic chemotherapy, 12 patients received CRS + HIPEC + early postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy for 5 postoperative days and then adjuvant systemic chemotherapy. Group C: After neoadjuvant chemotherapy, 15 patients received CRS + HIPEC and then an adjuvant bedside HIPEC on the 10th postoperative day combined with postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. Results: Patients in group A had a median overall survival (OS) of 33 months; however, log-rank tests showed that survival distributions of the three groups were not statistically significant different for both OS and disease-free survival.Conclusion: In conclusion, CRS plus HIPEC remains an alternative to locoregional treatment in well-selected patients with PM in combination with systemic neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy.

Dear Editor,With a great deal of interest, we read the article entitled: “Role of fluorescence imaging for intraoperative intestinal assessment in gynecological surgery: a systematic review” by Spa...

Dear Editor,With great deal of interest, we read the article entitled “Lymphadenectomy in primary fallopian tube cancer is associated with improved survival” [1].The study mentions the higher trend...

Dear Editor, With a great deal of interest we read the article entitled ‘Does sites of recurrence impact survival in secondary cytoreduction surgery for recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer?’ by Kum...

Ovarian cancer is a major cause of cancer related-death in women around the world. Recent statistics on the worldwide cancer burden by the International Agency for the research on Cancer revealed ovarian cancer being both the eighth most frequent malignancy in the west countries. Peritoneal metastasis from ovarian cancer is a major challenge in the clinical management. Despite the evidence of the benefit of Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy in ovarian cancer with peritoneal deposits it has not been widely adopted, mainly due to logistical difficulties and less to the logoregional morbidity as pain. The role of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) in patients during the end of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) is a more tolerable feasible method with potential advantages as drug distribution, combination with hyperthermia and application before tumor regrowth. The aim of this article is to investigate the potential benefits of HIPEC explains the rationale, data of major clinical trials meta-analyses and recent randomized trial are presented and explains the indications patient selection and the best time to applicate of this aggressive logo regional treatment.