Peritoneal carcinomatosis from non-gynecologic malignancies - Results of the EVOCAPE 1 multicentric prospective study

BACKGROUND, Peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) is a common evolution of digesti ve cancer, associated with a poor prognosis. Yet it is poorly documented in the literature. METHODS. Three hundred seventy patients with PC from non-gynecologic malign ancies were followed prospectively: the PC was of gastric origin in 125 cas es, of colorectal origin in 118 cases, of pancreatic origin in 58 cases, of unknown origin in 43 cases, and of miscellaneous origins in 26 cases. A pr eviously reported PC staging system was used to classify these 370 patients . RESULTS, Mean and median overall survival periods were 6.0 and 3.1 months, respectively. Survival rates were mainly affected by the initial PC stage ( 9.8 months for Stage I with malignant peritoneal granulations less than 5 m m-in greatest dimension, versus 3.7 months for Stage TV with large, maligna nt peritoneal masses more than 2 rm in greatest dimension). The presence of ascites was associated with poor survival of patients with gastric or panc reatic carcinoma. Differentiation of the primary tumor did not influence th e prognoses of patients with PC. CONCLUSIONS. A better knowledge of the natural history of PC is needed, in View of die many Phase I, II, and III trials currently being conducted to e valuate aggressive multimodal therapeutic approaches to treating patients w ith PC from non-gynecologic malignancies. (C) 2000 American Cancer Society.