A method that delivers high doses of heated chemotherapy on to the abdominal cavity is a promising treatment for certain patients with Stage IV cancer. Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) kills cancer cells within the abdomen remaining after the surgical removal of tumors. Since it provides a targeted concentration of chemotherapy, outlooks could be promising for patients with advanced cancers and there are fewer unintended effects in comparison with traditional chemotherapy.
A lot of my patients who come to my clinic are told they will live just a few months. With these treatments, we may also help patients with peritoneal metastases live significantly longer and even cure a few of these stage IV cancers.”
Kiran Turaga, MD, MPH, Chief of Surgical Oncology at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Assistant Medical Director for the Clinical Trials Office at Yale Cancer Center
What’s HIPEC surgery?
There are two foremost components of HIPEC. The primary is surgery to remove the peritoneum or lining of the abdomen, where cancer has spread. Towards the tip of the surgery, chemotherapy heated to 108 degrees is pumped into the patient’s abdominal cavity for about 90 minutes to kill any remaining microscopic cancer cells.
Afterwards, the chemotherapy is drained, and the incision is closed. Patients who undergo this treatment spend about five days within the hospital after which it takes one other six weeks to get better. Abdominal cancer treatment HIPEC could be used to treat several kinds of metastatic or Stage IV cancers within the abdominal cavity including:
- Colorectal cancer
- Ovarian cancer
- Stomach cancer
- Appendix cancer
- Mesothelioma
For patients who’re good candidates for HIPEC, they only undergo the surgery one time. Nevertheless, it could possibly be used along with other cancer treatments including immunotherapy.
“It is often a multidisciplinary team. We’re working with oncologists, palliative care physicians, gastroenterologists, radiologists, dieticians, oncology nursing, and researchers. So, it’s an entire team and everybody works together to maintain these patients,” Dr. Turaga said.
Need for targeted chemotherapy
Currently Smilow Cancer Hospital is a premier hospital in Connecticut offering HIPEC and Dr. Turaga says this brings a much-needed surgery to the region. Many patients suffer from advanced abdominal cancers without good treatment options and unfortunately, incidents of colon cancer amongst younger patients are on the rise. The American Cancer Society estimates there are greater than 106,000 recent cases of colon cancer this yr alone.
While the success rate depends upon the sort of cancer, outlooks are promising. For instance, Dr. Turaga says many patients with appendix cancer can live one other 20 years after undergoing treatment.
Source:
Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital