Perfusion Therapy for Peritoneal Carcinomatosis

What is Peritoneal Carcinomatosis?

Peritoneal carcinomatosis is a type of advanced cancer in which multiple tiny tumors develop in the abdominal cavity and linings. Cancers like peritoneal carcinomatosis are impossible to completely remove surgically and often recur despite conventional chemotherapy. Conventional chemotherapy is usually administered orally or intravenously, and is too diluted by the time it reaches the abdomen via the bloodstream to kill all of the remaining cancer cells.

At the David C. Koch Regional Perfusion Cancer Therapy Center, intraperitoneal hyperthermic chemoperfusion (IPHC) is used to treat peritoneal carcinomatosis. In IPHC, a heated solution containing anticancer drugs is circulated directly to and throughout the abdomen to treat tiny tumors that have spread widely. With IPHC, the chemotherapy comes into direct contact with the cancer cells and at a higher concentration. This combined heat and direct contact with chemotherapy drugs kill the peritoneal carcinomatosis cancer cells – thus enhancing the effect of chemotherapy. The treatment can prolong and improve the lives of patients who might otherwise have limited treatment options.

The Treatment for Peritoneal Carcinomatosis

To treat peritoneal carcinomatosis, surgeons first remove as many tumors as possible from the abdominal cavity. Afterwards, two small incisions are made, then tubes are inserted – one to pump the heated chemotherapy solution into the patient’s body – and one to circulate the fluid back to the heating equipment. Once the treatment begins, the temperature in the abdominal cavity rises to between 105° and 107.6°F. The chemotherapy solution circulates for several hours to kill the cancer cells. The pump is turned off to allow the abdominal region to cool to normal temperature and the surgeon then removes the tubes and temperature probes, closes the incisions and sends the patient to recovery.

How Well Does it Work?

While each patient responds in his or her individual way (depending on the stage of peritoneal carcinomatosis, their health, and other factors), treatment has doubled and even tripled the life span of people previously expected to live about six months.