Multimodal Treatment of Peritoneal Metastases Offers Hope for Many Patients With Colorectal Cancer

BERLIN, November 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

8^th World Congress on Peritoneal Surface Malignancies

At the 8^th World Congress on Peritoneal Surface Malignancies held from October 30 to November 2 in Berlin, Germany, a paradigm shift was emphasized that offers hope to numerous cancer patients worldwide. So far patients with peritoneal metastases of solid tumors in the abdominal region were considered not to be candidates for curative treatment. These patients had an extremely poor prognosis and were treated solely with systemic chemotherapy within the framework of "best supportive care."

At the international congress definitive data was presented sharing that multimodal treatment of peritoneal metastases of colorectal cancer can be a promising approach and is associated with a five-year survival of up to 30-50%. Dr. Paul Sugarbaker (Washington, DC, USA), surgeon and congress president, is considered a pioneer of this approach which uses a combination of cytoreductive surgery (CRS), hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) and subsequent systemic chemotherapy. With HIPEC the chemotherapeutic agent is distributed in the abdominal region at 42°C for about 60 to 90 minutes. "The residual tumor tissue is exposed to a multiple of the normal concentration of the cytotoxic agent that is administered during conventional chemotherapy," explained Sugarbaker. "This is why the method is successful. In selected patients it can double the survival time - and should therefore be considered as a therapeutic option within an individualized treatment approach".

The aspect of individualized treatment is important, because the method is suitable only for patients with isolated and limited peritoneal carcinomatosis without metastases outside the abdomen. "However, this group constitutes up to 15% of all patients with colorectal cancer after all," pointed out Dr. Prof. Pompiliu Piso (Regensburg, Germany), co-president of the congress. "In simple terms this means that in Germany, for example, where there are 70,000 new cases of colon cancer each year, the prognosis of around 10,000 patients could be substantially improved by the use of this method."

Further information

http://www.peritonealconference2012.com

http://www.dgav.de

Press contact
Dr. Bettina Albers
albers@albersconcept.de
Tel. + 49-174-2165629

SOURCE 8th World Congress on Peritoneal Surface Malignancies