What is HIPEC surgery?

HIPEC surgery involves administering large amounts of chemotherapy into the abdomen to treat cancer that has progressed beyond the organ from which it started. Traditional chemotherapy may not be effective in treating abdominal malignancies that have progressed to the lining of the abdominal cavity (peritoneum). HIPEC surgery offers a more effective therapeutic approach.

What type of cancer may HIPEC surgery treat?

HIPEC surgery is used to treat abdominal illnesses, fluid accumulation, and malignancies. The most prevalent malignancies treated with HIPEC are:

  • Adrenal cancer
  • Appendix cancer
  • Colon and rectal cancer
  • Gastric (stomach) cancer
  • Liver cancer
  • Mesothelioma
  • Ovarian cancer
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Peritoneal cancer

How is HIPEC surgery performed?

HIPEC surgery has two stages:

  • Cytoreductive surgery

Cytoreductive surgery is the initial stage of HIPEC surgery. While you are under anesthesia, your surgeon will make an incision in your abdomen to see any apparent malignant tumors or sick tissue.

  • Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC)

The treatment targets tiny cancer cells in the abdominal cavity.


“Hyperthermic” term denotes “heated” or “hot.” Heat is cytotoxic, therefore it kills cancer.


According to research, heating some chemotherapy medications increases their capacity to destroy cancer. During HIPEC, chemotherapeutic medicines are heated to 108 degrees Fahrenheit (41 to 43 degrees Celsius).


The term “intraperitoneal” refers to chemotherapy that is delivered directly into your abdominal cavity, focusing on cancers that systemic chemotherapy cannot reach. HIPEC provides a continual infusion of heated chemotherapeutic medications that wash throughout your belly.

Hipec is a surgical method that targets abdominal cancer with less side effects than regular chemotherapy, making it more effective if the disease is aggressive.

 

Following tumor removal surgery, the patient’s abdominal cavity is immersed in a heated, highly concentrated chemotherapy solution to kill any remaining malignancy.

HIPEC offers various benefits over conventional chemotherapy

1. It is a single treatment done in the operating room, not several treatments over several weeks.

2. 90% of the medicine remains in the abdominal cavity, reducing the harmful effects on the rest of the body.

3. It enables for a more intensive dosage of chemotherapy.

Adult and pediatric patients are treated with heated chemotherapy for soft tissue sarcomas, appendix cancer, Wilms’ tumor, desmoplastic small round cell tumors (DSRCT), and other abdominal cavity diseases.