The patients studied were ages 46-62 with stage 4 gastric cancer with peritoneal metastasis. They received an average of seven cycles of chemotherapy prior to undergoing cytoreductive surgery combined with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. After the procedure, the patients stayed in the hospital for around six days, with most patients having no complications. Of the patients who had complications, most were lower grade and didn't prolong their hospital stay.
Researchers followed the patients clinically with imaging and tumor markers every three to four months for the first two years and every six months thereafter. The one, two and three-year overall survival rates were 96%, 78% and 55%, respectively.
The research team is looking to improve those outcomes even further by performing similar procedures robotically to require smaller abdominal incisions. The goal is to decrease the length of hospital stays and complication rates and quicken recovery so patients can get back to enjoying their lives. Eventually, Dr. Grotz hopes to do the procedure even sooner after diagnosis to prevent the spread of stomach cancer to the peritoneum.
"People with gastric cancer are usually told they have no hope and no options. When I was a medical student, I was motivated to wholly understand the cancer, how to treat it to really make a meaningful impact and cure some of these patients or prolong their survival or help alleviate their symptoms," says Dr. Grotz. "Although we still have a long way to go, we've made some big strides and will continue to make progress to provide hope and healing for our patients."