According to French guidelines, hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) can be performed for Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage III primary epithelial ovarian, tubal, and peritoneal cancers that are initially unresectable after 3 or 4 cycles of intravenous chemotherapy. The main objective of this preliminary study was to analyze the components necessary for the establishment of HIPEC in an expert gynecological oncological surgery center. The secondary objective was to compare HIPEC using conventional laparotomy and laparoscopic approaches.

We conducted a single-center retrospective study of patients who received HIPEC. All patients who met the criteria of the French HIPEC guidelines were included from 2019 to 2021.

Prior to HIPEC, there were a mean of 3.7 courses of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with carboplatin and paclitaxel. Of the 16 patients who received HIPEC, 9 (56.2%) underwent HIPEC laparoscopically, while 7 (43.8%) underwent laparotomy. There were no differences between the rates of intra- and postoperative complications between the two groups. (p > 0.05). The duration of hospitalization was significantly shorter in patients who were operated laparoscopically than in those treated using laparotomy (55.6% <10 days vs. 0 by laparotomy, p = 0.01). There was also a tendency, although not significant, for a more rapid resumption of adjuvant chemotherapy in the laparoscopy group, with 57.1% resuming chemotherapy in <6 weeks compared to 42.9% in the laparotomy group (p = 0.52).

This study demonstrates the feasibility of HIPEC in a center with expertise in gynecological surgery when there is a suitable technical platform and close collaboration between the different teams involved. We also showed the first cases of HIPEC using laparoscopy, which seems to be a promising approach.