Who Can Receive HIPEC Treatment for Ovarian Cancer?
- Hyperthermic (heated) intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) can be a good option for some women with ovarian cancer
- The treatment can offer a significant survival benefit, but also has considerable side effects
- Deciding when it is appropriate to use HIPEC may involve assessing a woman’s overall health, age, and any other health conditions she has
According to Dr. Antonio Santillan-Gomez, a gynecologic oncologist at Texas Oncology in San Antonio, these side effects may be more severe than with other treatment options. This is in part because the procedure poses the risks of both surgery-related and chemotherapy-related side effects at the same time.
Read More- An obstruction to the small bowel, called “ileus”
- Nausea and vomiting
- Effects on the bone marrow
“We have to learn with time that we have to be really selective in which patients we can do a radical procedure [like HIPEC],” says Dr. Santillan-Gomez. Deciding who might benefit is a decision based on, for instance, a woman’s overall health, nutritional status, age, and other health conditions she may already have that could increase her risks. “No one wants to give a treatment to a patient that is going to do worse from the treatment than from the cancer that you’re treating,” Dr. Santillan-Gomez explains.
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