Prediction of surgical benefit in gastric cancer patients with peritoneal metastasis treated with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy

The objective is to evaluate whether gastric cancer patients with peritoneal metastasis can benefit from surgery through a comprehensive analysis of different clinical factors and perioperative treatment methods. A total of 135 gastric cancer patients with peritoneal metastasis were treated with Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). Patients were divided into either training group (without surgery, n = 90) or test group (with surgery, n = 45). A nomogram was constructed based on significant prognostic factors. The patients were divided into high- and low-risk groups using a nomogram. Overall survival were then compared according to whether surgery was performed in both groups. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), complications, conversion chemotherapy, and postoperative chemotherapy were significantly associated with overall survival (p < 0.05). A nomogram was constructed using the above four factors and validated using the test set. The area under the curve (AUC) of the model was 0.752 (95% CI 0.525–978). In the group that did not undergo surgery, the median survival times for the high-risk and low-risk groups were 7 and 11 months, respectively. In the surgery group, the median survival times for the high-risk and low-risk groups were 11 and 19 months, respectively. The difference was statistically significant (p < 0.0001). The four-factor nomogram can accurately predict high-risk and low-risk populations. Our findings suggest that cytoreductive surgery combined with HIPEC can improve the survival time of patients in both groups.