What Patients Should Know About HIPEC and Recurrent Ovarian Cancer
- Abdominal Cancers Alliance
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Efficacy and safety of secondary cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy in platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Liu, HY., Tian, LH., Huang, G. et al. World J Surg Onc 23, 423 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12957-025-04076-7
What the study looked at
Researchers examined data from over 1,100 people with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer (meaning the cancer responded to prior platinum chemotherapy, and later came back).
They compared two approaches:
SCS (Secondary Cytoreductive Surgery--surgery to remove as much visible tumor as possible) plus HIPEC (heated chemotherapy washed into the abdomen during surgery)
SCS alone (Secondary Cytoreductive Surgery only, without heated chemotherapy)
What they found
Longer overall survival: People who had SCS + HIPEC lived longer, on average, than those who had surgery alone.
Time until cancer came back (progression-free survival): There was a trend toward longer time without cancer recurrence in the HIPEC group — but this difference was not strong enough statistically to be certain.
Safety and side effects:
The overall risk of serious complications (grade 3 or higher) was not clearly higher when HIPEC was added.
But some side effects were more common with HIPEC — especially anemia (low red blood cells) and kidney effects (nephrotoxicity).
What this could mean — and what to know
For people with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer who are good candidates, adding HIPEC to surgery might improve overall survival compared with surgery alone.
However — it doesn’t guarantee cancer will stay away longer, and there’s a higher chance of some side effects.
Because results on recurrence-free time (PFS) aren’t conclusive, and safety risks exist, SCS + HIPEC should be considered carefully. It may be most helpful at specialized centers with experience with HIPEC.
Future research (with larger, carefully designed studies) is still needed to better define who benefits the most from HIPEC + surgery.
