Incidence of leukopenia after intraperitoneal vs combined intravenous/intraperitoneal chemotherapy in pseudomyxoma peritonei.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the clinical impact of post-hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) leukopenia, intraperitoneal and combined intravenous/intraperitoneal drug administrations were compared.


METHODS
Two patient cohorts were retrospectively analyzed regarding the incidence of postoperative leukopenia. The first cohort (n = 32) received Mitomycin C (MMC)-based HIPEC intraperitoneally (35 mg/m² for 90 min) and the second cohort (n = 10) received a bi-directional therapy consisting of oxaliplatin (OX) (300 mg/m(2) for 30 min) intraperitoneally and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) 400 mg/m² plus folinic acid 20 mg/m² intravenously. The following data were collected retrospectively: Age, sex, length of operation, length of hospital stay, amount of resection including extent of peritonectomy, peritoneal cancer index, CC (completeness of cytoreduction)-status and leukocyte-count before cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and HIPEC, on days 3, 7 and 14 after CRS and HIPEC. HIPEC leukopenia was defined as < 4000 cells/m³.


RESULTS
Leukopenia occurred statistically more often in the MMC than in the OX/5-FU-group (10/32 vs 0/10; P = 0.042). Leukopenia set-on was on day 7 after CRS and MMC-HIPEC and lasted for two to three days. Three patients (33%) required medical treatment. Patients affected by leukopenia were predominantly female (7/10 patients) and older than 50 years (8/10 patients). The length of hospital stay tended to be higher in the MMC-group without reaching statistical significance (22.5 ± 11 vs 16.5 ± 3.5 d). Length of operation (08:54 ± 01:44 vs 09:48 ± 02:28 h) were comparable between patients with and without postoperative leukopenia. Prior history of systemic chemotherapy did not trigger post-HIPEC leukopenia. Occurrence of leucopenia did not trigger surgical site infections, intraabdominal abscess formations, hospital-acquired pneumonia or anastomotic insufficiencies.


CONCLUSIONS
Surgeons must be aware that there is a higher incidence of postoperative leukopenia in MMC-based HIPEC protocols primarily affecting females and older patients.
Philipp Horvath, Stefan Beckert, Florian Struller, Alfred Königsrainer, Ingmar Königsrainer, Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University of Tübingen, Comprehensive Cancer Center, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
Philipp
P
Horvath
Philipp Horvath, Stefan Beckert, Florian Struller, Alfred Königsrainer, Ingmar Königsrainer, Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University of Tübingen, Comprehensive Cancer Center, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
Stefan
S
Beckert
Philipp Horvath, Stefan Beckert, Florian Struller, Alfred Königsrainer, Ingmar Königsrainer, Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University of Tübingen, Comprehensive Cancer Center, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
Florian
F
Struller
Philipp Horvath, Stefan Beckert, Florian Struller, Alfred Königsrainer, Ingmar Königsrainer, Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University of Tübingen, Comprehensive Cancer Center, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
Alfred
A
Königsrainer
Philipp Horvath, Stefan Beckert, Florian Struller, Alfred Königsrainer, Ingmar Königsrainer, Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University of Tübingen, Comprehensive Cancer Center, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
Ingmar
I
Königsrainer
Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy; Mitomycin C; Oxaliplatin; Postoperative leukopenia; Pseudomyxoma peritonei