There’s some good news for those suffering from cancer of the appendix, large intestine and ovary. A 67-year-old man suffering from cancer of the appendix got a new lease of life after doctors at the Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital performed a rare surgery using a new technology. The surgery called Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intra-Peritonial Chemotherapy (HIPEC) is believed to be a new hope for people suffering from cancer of the large intestine, ovary and appendix.
The cancer in appendix, large intestine and ovary has a tendency to spread to the entire peritoneum--a membrane that lines the inside of abdomen and envelops all organs in the abdomen.
“The present protocol for such patients is plain chemotherapy, which is not very effective and the patient has a little chance of survival,” said Dr sanket Mehta, who operated on Sadashiv Patidar.
“When I first saw the patient, he was not eating well and was having recurrent vomiting. He had difficulty in walking due to the marked distension of the abdomen with the tumour and the jelly like ascistis. Even while sleeping he had to remain in the upright position. Seventeen days after the surgery, he is eating well, walking and has rediscovered his inner strength. He has recovered very well,” said Dr Mehta.
Dr Mehta and his team removed about 5kg of tumour and 3 litres of jelly like material, which is very characteristic of pseudomyxoma.
The new protocol includes extensive surgery in which all the visible tumours are removed. “After removing the visible tumours, few microscopic tumours do remain that will be treated via chemotherapy. The chemotherapy will be directly given to abdomen using the machine. The machine helps to deliver the chemotherapy at high flow rate, at high temperature and at higher concentration rate.”
According to experts adopting this treatment strategy, a significant number of patients with pseudomyxomas can survive for up to 10 years and there is even a good chance of cure.
HIPEC is not only effective for pseudomyxomas but also for mesotheliomas (primary cancer of peritoneum), colorectal cancers and ovarian cancers with peritoneal spread. Patients can survive for more than five years and there is even a chance of cure, contrary to the dismal results of conventional treatment where the disease is universally fatal for all patients.