General information

Appendix cancer is a cancer arising in the appendix that resembles but is not the same as, colorectal cancer. Appendix cancer can be difficult to diagnose and can appear like pseudomyxoma peritonei or colorectal cancer.

What are the reasons for recommending Peritonectomy?

In our unit and other units performing peritonectomy and HIPEC the chances of living 5 years after surgery are 50%. The chemotherapy we use is HIPEC with oxaliplatin and an intravenous injection of 5-fluorouracil.

What are the alternatives?

The main alternative to peritonectomy and HIPEC is chemotherapy. Most oncologists would use similar chemotherapy to that used for colon cancer. There is little published data on the results of this chemotherapy, but the limited data suggests that results of chemotherapy in appendix cancer are similar to those in colon cancer. We would expect that the chances of living 5 years with chemotherapy alone (and no peritonectomy surgery) would be 5% or less.