Cancer incidence is on the rise, and the American Cancer Society forecasts that there will be a staggering 2 million new cancer diagnoses in 2024.
The risk of dying from cancer, however, has steadily declined over the past 30 years. This decline can be attributed to many things, but advancements in cancer treatments are certainly a factor.
Stages of HIPEC
One of those treatment advances, used for the first time in 1980, is hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). HIPEC surgery involves two stages. The first is cytoreductive surgery, in which the surgeon opens the abdominal cavity and removes all visible tumors and diseased tissue. Once this is completed, the surgeon then inserts catheters that are connected to a perfusion machine, which begins stage two, which is the actual HIPEC part. Through the perfusion machine, IV solution is circulated through the abdominal cavity and is heated to temperatures above 107 F (42C) to super warm both the targeted tissue and the surrounding abdominal cavity. This part of the procedure generates a cancerous cellular kill in and of itself. Chemotherapeutic drugs are then added to the solution and heated circulation continues for 90 to 120 minutes to kill any remaining cancer cells. This procedure improves chemotherapeutic drug absorption and its effect to the targeted tissue and surrounding area with minimum exposure to the rest of the body. In this way, the normal side effects of chemotherapy can hopefully be avoided. This innovative procedure can improve long-term outcomes and provide more treatment options for patients who have been diagnosed with inoperable or advanced stage cancer.
Many types of advanced cancers respond well to these HIPEC perfusion therapies, and rapid testing and innovation by some of the nation’s leading cancer centers is leading to frequent new and advanced treatment opportunities.
SpecialtyCare has been a part of thousands of HIPEC surgeries and innovative perfusion chemotherapy treatments over many years. A recent example occurred at Moffitt Cancer Center, a leading innovator in cancer treatments in Tampa, Florida. Moffitt had pioneered a highly specialized HIPEC treatment called percutaneous hepatic perfusion (PHP), a high-dose chemotherapy wherein a 30-minute infusion of a prescribed chemotherapeutic agent is delivered directly into the liver. During the surgery, the blood is passed through a proprietary filter (manufactured by Delcath, an interventional oncology company focused on treating liver cancers) and is then returned to systemic circulation.