HIPEC for ovarian cancer

HIPEC (Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy)

HIPEC is a combination treatment involving surgery and chemotherapy. This treatment is used to treat ovarian cancer that has spread to the abdomen or peritoneum, the protective membrane surrounding the abdominal cavity (stage III ovarian cancer). Surgery alone for this cancer type is often not an option due to the development of the tumor. Your treatment will start with chemotherapy, followed by a procedure called interval debulking surgery. HIPEC is an option for patients treated with interval debulking. Once all visible tumor tissue has been removed, your stomach will be rinsed with heated chemotherapy. The goal is to expose all microscopic tumor cells that cannot be seen by the naked eye to the chemotherapy to lower the risk of recurrence. 

Some of the benefits of this procedure are:

• It is more effective, as the chemotherapy is delivered directly into the abdominal cavity where the tumor cells are.
• It is more effective because it allows us to heat up the chemotherapy and deliver a higher dosage.
• It allows us to prevent damage to other organs and minimize side effects by keeping the majority of the chemotherapy out of the bloodstream.