Time between mesothelioma surgeries indicative of longer survival

North Carolina residents may be interested to hear that recently, cancer researchers analyzed patients with peritoneal surface cancers to determine if the interval between cytoreductive surgeries with heated hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy is a marker for survival. Fourteen percent of patients in the study had peritoneal mesothelioma, a form of malignant mesothelioma initially affecting the lining of the abdomen. The other patients had peritoneal appendiceal, colorectal or ovarian cancer-related tumors. The study concludes that patients who live longer between surgeries have a greater chance of longer survival overall.

The researchers used a database of 1,314 patients who had CRS/HIPEC over approximately 22 years and determined there were 103 patients who underwent the procedures more than once. Examination of the 103 patients revealed that those who lived the longest after the first procedure (before undergoing a second) also lived the longest after the second procedure. According to the study, the time interval between surgeries is a major surrogate of tumor biology, which is helpful for doctors in selecting patients for repeat CRS/HIPEC.

The overall median survival for all patients was just over four years. 42 percent of patients with malignant mesothelioma or other peritoneal malignancies survived for more than two years before undergoing the procedures for a second time. 38 percent underwent a second procedure within two years and approximately 20 percent needed the second procedure within a year.

The study, published in the Journal of Surgical Oncology, found that an interval of more than two years is strongly associated with survival. According to the study’s authors, each additional month between surgeries confers with over a 2.5 percent reduction in the risk of death. The authors note that this study will allow doctors and patients to make more informed choices when deciding whether those suffering from recurring peritoneal surface malignancies like mesothelioma should undergo a second procedure.

Source: Surviving Mesothelioma, Length of Time Between Surgeries a Marker for Mesothelioma Survival, Alex Strauss, June 14, 2017