Sufferers who have gynecologic cancer have great new optimism with a original technology currently offered 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.

Performed immediately following surgery, HIPEC provides heated chemotherapy through a ‘hot bath’ into the abdominal cavity, where it can penetrate diseased tissue directly. Right after the surgeon removes all the visible cancer as practical, a heated, a sterilized chemotherapy solution is circulated across the midsection by using a technically advanced perfusion procedure to kill the leftover 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, cancers that in general are usually not receptive to chemotherapy, but it’s now thought of as a promising new therapy for gynecologic malignancy.