Peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) from gastric cancer has long been regarded a terminal disease with a short median survival. New locoregional therapeutic approaches combining cytoreductive surgery with perioperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy (PIC) have evolved and suggest improved survival.

A retrospective multicentric study was performed in French-speaking centers to evaluate the toxicity and the principal prognostic factors in order to identify the best indications. All patients had cytoreductive surgery and PIC: hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) and/or early postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy (EPIC).

The study included 159 patients from 15 institutions between February 1989 and August 2007. The median follow-up was 20.4 months. HIPEC was the PIC used for 150 procedures. Postoperative mortality and grade 3–4 morbidity rates were 6.5 and 27.8%, respectively. By multivariate analysis, the institution had a significant influence on toxicity. The overall median survival was 9.2 months and 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 43, 18, and 13%, respectively. The only independent prognostic indicator by multivariate analysis was the completeness of cytoreductive surgery. For patients treated by complete cytoreductive surgery, the median survival was 15 months with a 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rate of 61, 30, and 23%, respectively.

The therapeutic approach combining cytoreductive surgery with PIC for patients with gastric carcinomatosis may achieve long-term survival in a selected group of patients (limited and resectable PC). The high mortality rate underlines this necessarily strict selection that should be reserved to experienced institutions involved in the management of PC and gastric surgery.