Chemotherapy Mix Doubles Peritoneal Mesothelioma Survival

Surgeon Paul Sugarbaker at the Washington Cancer Institute has nearly doubled the five-year survival rate for patients with peritoneal mesothelioma by adding long-term regional chemotherapy to his already groundbreaking protocol. Sugarbaker, a pioneer in advancing peritoneal mesothelioma treatment for more than two decades, believes this latest development could have far-reaching implications. “This could be a game changer,” Sugarbaker told Asbestos.com. “The reaction has been, ‘Wow! [It’s] hard to believe.’ We’ve got to exploit this [advancement] as best as we can.” Sugarbaker, who is also medical director at the MedStar Washington Hospital Center, detailed results of his latest study in the European Journal of Surgical Oncology. NIPEC Lifts Five-Year Survival Rates The study included a five-year survival of 75 percent for those receiving the latest normothermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (NIPEC) following hyperthermic perioperative chemotherapy (HIPEC) and early postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy (EPIC). The five-year survival rate for patients receiving only the surgery and HIPEC was 44 percent. Patients getting surgery, HIPEC and EPIC had a five-year survival rate of 52 percent. All patients had the epithelioid cell type of mesothelioma, and Sugarbaker performed all surgeries over the past 20 years. Surgeons use NIPEC regularly for ovarian cancer, but Sugarbaker first used it for peritoneal mesothelioma cancer in 2012. He remains the...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: cytoreductive surgery epithelioid cell type European Journal of Surgical Oncology HIPEC hyperthermic perioperative chemotherapy International Journal of Hyperthermia intraperitoneal chemotherapy long-term regional chemotherapy MedStar Wash Source Type: news