Mesothelioma Heated Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy has been in use for treating mesothelioma since a long time. It is part of the trimodal approach generally adopted for managing the disease which combines surgery with chemotherapy and radiation. A new type of intervention was developed in 2003 called Heated Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC); this was found particularly efficacious in treating cases of cancer in the abdominal region or what is known as Peritoneal Mesothelioma in medical terms. Of the large number of mesothelioma cases reported in the US each year, about 10 to 20 percent are of the peritoneal mesothelioma type. As the name indicates, in this type of cancer malignant cells develop in the membranous layer called the peritoneum that surrounds and protects the abdominal organs and lines the abdominal cavity.

HIPEC Process

Heated Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy or HIPEC as it is referred to in short, is different from traditional chemotherapy methods in the way it is administered. The process involves the following steps:

• To start with, as much of the malignant tissue that is possible to cut out is removed through surgery;
• After that, a heated sterile solution that constitutes a chemotherapeutic agent is circulated throughout the peritoneal cavity as soon as the surgery is complete; this may be carried on for two hours at the maximum;
• The chemotherapeutic agent kills any remaining cancer cells that may have been left in the abdominal cavity after surgical debulking.

HIPEC Advantages

This unique process of heated chemotherapy has some significant advantages over the conventional cancer therapies. Firstly, greater concentrations of the drug are able to reach where most needed owing to the fact that mesothelioma chemotherapy is being administered directly to the affected area as soon as the surgery is complete. Secondly, heating the solution to be administered has three positive connotations:

• Heat augments the power of the chemotherapy to kill cells effectively;
• Heat makes the tumor nodules soft; as a result, the dispersion and reach of the drug inside the tumor increases;
• And most importantly, a temperature of 42 degrees Celsius kills cancer cells but does not affect the normal cells at all.

The only downside to the treatment is that it has limited application; it is found effective only with regard to persons diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma and other forms of cancer of the abdominal area. The procedure has not been found appropriate for other patients of mesothelioma like those with mesothelioma of the pleura or pericardium.