Intraoperative radiotherapy and cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy

Purpose Treatment of rectal cancer has markedly improved since the introduction of neoadjuvant strategies and better surgical techniques. However, treatment remains troublesome for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) or with peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC). Patients presenting with LARC may now benefit from the integration of intra-operative radiotherapy (IORT) into multimodality treatment. Selected patients with PC now undergo cytoreductive surgery combined with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) resulting in improved survival. Some patients present with locally advanced disease and synchronous peritoneal carcinomatosis and fulfill the eligibility criteria for both HIPEC and IORT, raising the question whether the combined application of both modalities within one operative procedure is feasible.