A unique treatment combining cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is being increasingly used by the oncologists to treat cancers that have spread to the abdominal cavity – a condition known as peritoneal surface malignancies (PSM).
Experts in the sector say that the treatment results have found overall higher survival rate among such cancer patients. The treatment procedure involves the surgical removal of metastatic cancer deposits followed by HIPEC, also known as heated chemotherapy bath which is given within the abdominal cavity designed to obliterate the remaining invisible cancer cells that may be present in the tissues, explained Professor SVS Deo, , Head of Department( Surgical Oncologist), Delhi-based AIIMS.
In the Government sector, Delhi-based AIIMS is among the few specialized centres in the country which is offering the treatment free of cost to the poor patients for the last few years. In the private sector, the treatment cost is quite high--ranging between Rs 12 lakhs to 15 lakhs. CRS-HIPEC requires specialised expertise and equipment and is not available at all treatment centers in the country. To create awareness and deliberate on opportunities and challenges in the area, as the procedure is quite intricate, the Department of Surgical Oncology, AIIMS had organized the first "ESSO-ISPSM Cadaver Course and Workshop and International Conference on Peritoneal Surface Malignancies" on Saturday and Sunday.
"It was the first ever multi-speciality conference involving fields of surgical oncology, gastro-intestinal surgery and gynae-oncology focusing on CRS and HIPEC. This course is endorsed by European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO) and for the first time included a workshop for Nurses and OT technicians," said Dr Naveen Gupta, Senior Resident Department of Surgical Oncologist, AIIMS.
PSM refer to those cancers arising either primarily from the peritoneum, a thin and clear layer lining the inner surface of abdominal wall and viscera (primary peritoneal malignancy) or has spread to it from a different primary site (secondary peritoneal malignancy) like ovarian or colorectal cancers.
The procedure is shown to improve life span in patients suffering with cancers of the appendix, large intestine, gastric, ovary and peritoneal mesothelioma, said Dr Sunil Kumar, Associate Professor in the Department of Surgical Oncologist, AIIMS.
A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has said that women with stage 3 epithelial ovarian cancer could benefit from the twin treatment-CRS and HIPEC, improving survival rates by 10 per cent.