Men and women with gynecologic cancer have all new anticipation in a creative technology currently made available at the Seidman Cancer Center at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. A team of cancer specialists, led by Robert DeBernardo, MD, is among the first in the nation to launch a dedicated program using Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) to treat ovarian, endometrial and select other cancers.
Performed asap following surgery, HIPEC delivers heated chemotherapy through a ‘hot bath’ into the abdominal cavity, where it can penetrate diseased tissue directly. Subsequently after the doctor takes out all the visible cancer as practical, a heated, a sterilized chemotherapy solution is circulated across the midsection through a technologically sophisticated perfusion system to eliminate the leftover cancer cells.
“This is a new and potentially revolutionary way of treating women with gynecologic cancers, which tend to be quite responsive to chemotherapy,” says Dr. DeBernardo, gynecologic oncologist at UH Case Medical Center and Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “Our preliminary data and experience has been overwhelmingly positive and the therapy has been well-tolerated and effective. HIPEC promises to extend lives in a meaningful way.”
HIPEC has been used for years for public health care in patients with colon, pseudomyxomas, malignant mesothelioma and appendiceal cancer, varieties of cancer that generally speaking aren’t responsive to chemotherapy, however it is currently seen as an encouraging brand new therapy for gynecologic malignancy.