Carboplatin Remains the Best Chemotherapy Drug for HIPEC Procedure

Surgeon Brian Loggie, M.D., hopes to end the continued debate over which chemotherapy agent is the best to use during the HIPEC procedure that he helped pioneer for peritoneal mesothelioma patients. There is no doubt in his mind: Carboplatin. The American Surgeon recently published a retrospective study in which Loggie and his colleagues at the Creighton University Medical Center concluded that carboplatin clearly was more effective than mitomycin, which several cancer centers are using. The HIPEC (Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy) procedure involves the internal rinsing or bathing of the abdominal area with a chemotherapy-based solution heated to 108 degrees Fahrenheit. The procedure accompanies cytoreductive surgery that removes the visible cancer tumors. The HIPEC, which involves circulating the solution in the abdomen for two hours, is designed to kill any remaining cancer cells that were not visible to the surgeon. "I think it's time to change the clinical practice," Loggie told Asbestos.com recently. "The data [in the study] is in-your-face data. You can see the difference right away in patients. It's significant. I'm convinced this is the way to go." Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos and diagnosed in fewer than 1,000 patients annually in the U.S. It initially is found in the thin lining surrounding the organs in the abdominal cavity. There is no cure, although treatments like the HIPEC have made a big difference in surviv...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Research & Clinical Trials Source Type: news