Peritoneal carcinomatosis from colorectal cancer: Not a lost cause.

592 Background: Patients who present with peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) from colorectal cancer are considered terminal, with an expected median survival of 6-8 months. Therapy is often considered palliative and aggressive treatments are nihilistically ignored. This study investigates the clinicopathologic characteristics and clinical outcomes of CRC patients who present with PC. Methods: This is a retrospective review of all patients who presented with stage IV CRC from 1/2000-12/2008 to a single, tertiary care institution. Patients with PC at the time of presentation were identified. Demographic data, clinicopathologic characteristics, treatment and survival data were collected and analyzed. Results: 591 patients who presented with stage IV colorectal cancer were identified. Complete data was available on 216 patients. PC was confirmed in 106 patients (17.9%). PC was the only site of metastatic disease in 40 patients (6.7%). Compared with patients who did not have PC, patients with PC had significantly ...