HIPEC for colorectal peritoneal metastases

The treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer has changed profoundly over the past 25 years. In 1995, fluorouracil was the only active chemotherapy available for the disease, and long-term survival (ie, for at least 5 years) was rarely achieved with chemotherapy alone.1 Only patients with surgically resectable liver and lung metastases had a reasonable chance of long-term survival.1 Since then, more chemotherapeutic drugs have been approved, and median survival has increased to 2–3 years (from around 6–12 months), with 20–25% of patients surviving for at least 5 years.