Impact of insurance status on overall survival after cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS-HIPEC)

Abstract Objectives The impact of insurance status on oncological outcome in patients undergoing cytoreduction and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS-HIPEC) is poorly understood. Methods Retrospective study on 31 patients having undergone 36 CRS-HIPEC at a single institution (safety-net hospital) between 2012 and 2018. Patients were categorized as insured or underinsured. Demographics and perioperative events were compared. Primary outcome was overall survival (OS). Results A total of 20 patients were underinsured and 11 were insured. There were less gynecologic malignancies in the underinsured (p=0.02). On univariate analysis, factors linked to poor survival included gastrointestinal (p=0.01) and gynecologic malignancies (p=0.046), treatment with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (p=0.03), CC1 (p=0.02), abdominal wall resection (p=0.01) and Clavien–Dindo 3-4 (p=0.01). Treatment with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and abdominal wall resections, but not insurance status, were independently associated with OS (p=0.01, p=0.02 respectively). However, at the end of follow-up, six patients were alive in the insured group vs. zero in the underinsured group. Conclusions In this small, exploratory study, there was no statistical difference in OS between insured and underinsured patients after CRS-HIPEC. However, long-term survivors were observed only in the insured group.