Those with gynecologic cancer have fresh expectation in a novel technology now made available at the Seidman Cancer Center at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. A team of cancer specialists, led by Robert DeBernardo, MD, is among the first in the nation to launch a dedicated program using Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) to treat ovarian, endometrial and select other cancers.

Undertaken as soon as possible following surgical procedure, HIPEC delivers heated chemotherapy through a ‘hot bath’ into the abdominal cavity, where it can penetrate diseased tissue directly. Shortly after the doctor takes out the maximum visible cancer as feasible, a heated, a sterilized chemotherapy solution is distributed around the abdomen by way of a technologically sophisticated perfusion process to eliminate the residual cancer cells.

“This is a new and potentially revolutionary way of treating women with gynecologic cancers, which tend to be quite responsive to chemotherapy,” says Dr. DeBernardo, gynecologic oncologist at UH Case Medical Center and Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “Our preliminary data and experience has been overwhelmingly positive and the therapy has been well-tolerated and effective. HIPEC promises to extend lives in a meaningful way.”

HIPEC has been used for years for public health care in patients with colon, pseudomyxomas, malignant mesothelioma and appendiceal cancer, varieties of cancer of which typically are not responsive to chemotherapy, yet it’s currently perceived as an encouraging fresh treatment for gynecologic malignancy.