[Clinical evaluation of intra-peritoneal hyperthermic perfusion under hypothermic general anesthesia for advanced gastric cancer].

Right after surgery, intra-peritoneal hyperthermic perfusion (IPHP) was performed under hypothermic general anesthesia for 41 gastric cancer patients with peritoneal dissemination or serosal invasion. The control group consisted of 40 patients given surgery alone. With respect to the direct antitumor efficacy of IPHP, there were no cancer cells in the peritoneal lavage from Douglas' pouch and, ascitic effusion disappeared in all patients with peritoneal dissemination. The 1- and 3-year survival rates for the IPHP group were 68% and 39%, whereas those of the control group were 30% and 0%, respectively. The survival rates for the IPHP group were better than those for the control group, with a statistically significant difference of p = 8.1 x 10(-7). As to prevention of recurrence, the incidence of peritoneal dissemination for the IPHP group was lower at p = 0.002 than the control group.