Benefits of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for patients with serosal invasion in gastric cancer: a meta-analysis of the randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND: In this meta-analysis we aimed to determine the effectiveness and safety of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPC) for patients with advanced gastric cancer who underwent gastrectomy. METHODS: In accordance with standard meta-analysis procedures, our study included patients who underwent resection for advanced gastric cancer and were randomly allocated to receive either hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy or control. We searched PubMed (up to November 2011), EMBASE (up to November 2011), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CCTR) (up to November 2011). Both published and unpublished trials were included in the analysis, and no search restrictions were imposed. There was no language restriction. The results were analyzed using RevMan 5.1 software, which was provided by Cochrane Collaboration. RESULTS: There were ten randomized controlled trials included in the analysis. A total of 1062 patients with gastric cancer in these studies were divided into the HIPC group (n = 518) and control group (n = 544). A significant improvement in survival was observed in the HIPC groups compared to the control group in the mitomycin C (MMC) subgroup (RR = 0.75, 95%CI 0.65-0.86; P < 0.00001) and the 5-FU group (RR = 0.69, 95%CI 0.52-0.90; P < 0.00001); the total RR was 0.73 (95%CI 0.64-0.83; P < 0.00001). Our findings indicated that HIPC potentially exhibited a lower peritoneal recurrence rate in the HIPC group compared to the control group (RR = 0.45, 95%CI 0.28-0.72; P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis demonstrated that HIPC may improve the overall survival rate for patients who receive resection for advance gastric cancer potentially, and help to prevent peritoneal local recurrence among patients with serosal invasion in gastric cancer.