HIPEC Treatment
HIPEC stands for Heated Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy, a procedure used to treat advanced abdominal cancers. You may have heard of HIPEC under a previous name: IPHC, chemo-bath, HIIC (Heated Intraoperative Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy), Intraperitoneal Chemohyperthermia or Continuous Hyperthermic Peritoneal Perfusion.
How HIPEC works
HIPEC is performed during a surgery to remove an abdominal tumor. Once the tumor has been removed (“cytoreduction”), the surgeon continuously circulates a heated, sterile chemotherapy solution throughout the peritoneal cavity for up to 90 minutes. The HIPEC procedure is designed to attempt to kill any remaining cancer cells once all visible disease is removed. The solution is then removed and the incision closed.
Giving the chemotherapy in the abdomen at the time of surgery allows for greater concentrations of the drug where it is needed. Adding heat has a threefold advantage:
- Heat at 42 degrees Celsius kills cancer cells while not affecting normal cells.
- Heat allows the chemotherapy to penetrate a few millimeters and kill cancer cells that cannot be seen.
- The chemotherapy dose can be higher because it is not absorbed by the body in the same way as traditional chemotherapy.
The procedure also improves drug absorption and effect with minimal exposure to the rest of the body. In this way, the normal side effects of chemotherapy can be avoided.
There is substantial clinical evidence that HIPEC is the preferred treatment for patients with pseudomyxoma peritonei, mucinous adenocarcinoma of the appendix, and mesothelioma. Additionally, peritoneal metastases from colon cancer can also be successfully treated in a significant number of patients. Read the HIPEC Consensus Statement on Colon Cancer (PDF).
More information about HIPEC
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