Feasibility study of postoperative intraperitoneal hyperthermochemotherapy by radiofrequency capacitive heating system for advanced gastric cancer with peritoneal seeding

Background: Gastric carcinoma patients with peritoneal dissemination have an extremely poor prognosis. Attempting to improve regional control and decrease the risk of complications related to hyperthermic chemotherapy, we applied a new treatment modality using a combination of gastrectomy with postoperative intraperitoneal hyperthermo-chemotherapy (PIHC) using Thermotron RF-8. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of PIHC in advanced gastric carcinoma patients with peritoneal seeding.

Patients and methods: Between March 2002 and April 2006, 20 gastric carcinoma patients with peritoneal dissemination were allocated to two groups in the patient's selection. The PIHC group (10 patients) received a 60-min PIHC with a cisplatin dose of 80?mg/m² two weeks after surgery, and the control group (10 patients) received surgery alone. Thermotron RF-8 is a heating device that can raise temperatures in both superficial and deep-seated tumours using 8?MHz radiofrequency electromagnetic waves as a source of heat.

Results: No patients in either group had life-threatening complications. The most frequent nonhaematologic toxicity (grade 3) was nausea. The one-, two-, and three-year cumulative survival rates for the PIHC group were 60%, 48%, and 36%, respectively, whereas those for the control group were 40%, 10%, and 0%, respectively. The survival rates for the PIHC group were significantly higher than those for the control group.

Conclusion: Although this study was conducted non-randomly with a small number of patients, the PIHC group had a higher survival rate and better prognosis compared with the control group.