Impact of insurance status on overall survival after cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS-HIPEC)

OBJECTIVES: The impact of insurance status on oncological outcome in patients undergoing cytoreduction and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS-HIPEC) is poorly understood. METHODS: Retrospective study on 31 patients having undergone 36 CRS-HIPEC at a single institution (safety-net hospital) between 2012 and 2018. Patients were categorized as insured or underinsured. Demographics and perioperative events were compared. Primary outcome was overall survival (OS). RESULTS: A total of 20 patients were underinsured and 11 were insured. There were less gynecologic malignancies in the underinsured (p=0.02). On univariate analysis, factors linked to poor survival included gastrointestinal (p=0.01) and gynecologic malignancies (p=0.046), treatment with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (p=0.03), CC1 (p=0.02), abdominal wall resection (p=0.01) and Clavien–Dindo 3-4 (p=0.01). Treatment with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and abdominal wall resections, but not insurance status, were independently associated with OS (p=0.01, p=0.02 respectively). However, at the end of follow-up, six patients were alive in the insured group vs. zero in the underinsured group. CONCLUSIONS: In this small, exploratory study, there was no statistical difference in OS between insured and underinsured patients after CRS-HIPEC. However, long-term survivors were observed only in the insured group.