Each year, many patients worldwide are confronted with a diagnosis of “peritoneal cancer”. This includes patients with rare diseases such as malignant mesothelioma and pseudomyxomaperitonei (PMP). More often, peritoneal cancer arises from metastases from cancer elsewhere in the body. Fortunately, the treatment for patients with peritoneal cancer is evolving and improving.
Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is a cancer treatment that involves filling the abdominal cavity with chemotherapy drugs that have been heated. Also known as “hot chemotherapy,” HIPEC is performed after the surgeon removes tumors or lesions from the abdominal area. Unlike systemic chemotherapy delivery, which circulates throughout the body, HIPEC delivers chemotherapy directly to cancer cells in the abdomen.
HIPEC has several advantages over standard chemotherapy:
Treatment for peritoneal cancer is offered only at institutions with sufficient knowledge and skills to achieve optimal surgical results as well as safe administration of intraperitoneal chemotherapy.