Peritoneal carcinomatosis is an unavoidable development of ovarian cancer, from the first treatment to relapses, and is the main cause of patients death. Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), is a hope for cure for patients with ovarian cancer. HIPEC is based on direct application of chemotherapy on the perioneum with high concentration of chemotherapy enhanced with specific effects of hyperthermia. Theoretically, HIPEC could be proposed at different steps of ovarian cancer development. But the hypothesis of efficiency of a new treatment must be assessed before being routinely applied. Numerous clinical series are already published about HIPEC used in primary treatment of ovarian cancer or for relapses. These series are mostly retrospectives and based on heterogeneous parameters as inclusion criteria of patients, intra peritoneal chemotherapy, concentration, temperature, duration of HIPEC. Taking into account this heterogeneity it is not possible to draw strong scientific conclusions about HIPEC efficiency to treat ovarian cancer patients. We proposed a review allowing a better understanding of current recommendations of the use of HIPEC in ovarian cancer patients.
Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.