Evaluation of Best Supportive Care and Systemic Chemotherapy as Treatment Stratified according to the retrospective Peritoneal Surface Disease Severity Score (PSDSS) for Peritoneal Carcinomatosis of Colorectal Origin

One hundred sixty-seven consecutive patients treated with PC from colorectal cancer between years 1987-2006 were identified from a prospective institutional database. These patients either received no chemotherapy, 5-FU/Leucovorin or Oxaliplatin/Irinotecan-based chemotherapy. Stratification was made according to the retrospective PSDSS that classifies PC patients based on clinically relevant factors. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method and comparison with the log-rank test.Median survival was 5 months (95% CI, 3-7 months) for patients who had no chemotherapy, 11 months (95% CI, 6-9 months) for patients treated with 5 FU/LV, and 12 months (95% CI, 4-20 months) for patients treated with Oxaliplatin/Irinotecan-based chemotherapy. Survival differed between patients treated with chemotherapy compared to those patients who did not receive chemotherapy (p = 0.026). PSDSS staging was identified as an independent predictor for survival on multivariate analysis [RR 2.8 (95%CI 1.5-5.4); p < 0.001].A trend towards improved outcomes is demonstrated from treatment of patients with PC from colorectal cancer using modern systemic chemotherapy. The PSDSS appears to be a useful tool in patient selection and prognostication in PC of colorectal origin.The majority of patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) from colorectal cancer present with unresectable disease at the time of diagnosis. The morbid nature and fatality peritoneal disease in patients with colorectal cancer is significant and the recent focus of clinical outcomes research. In a recent multi-centre prospective study of 370 patients with PC from non-gynecological malignancies, patients with colorectal cancer survived a median time of 5.2 months [1]. Research protocols using palliative systemic chemotherapy for PC have been conducted with encouraging tumor response rates, but overall survival remains poor [2,3]. The reported median survival after systemic 5-Fluorouracil/Leucovorin (5FU/L) based