This article is part of Jmore’s October 2021 Innovations in Health Care issue.
At Mercy Medical Center, patients suffering from advanced stages of abdominal cancers, who might otherwise have limited hope for a solution, have treatment options that can improve their survival and quality of life.
Used in conjunction with surgery, hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is used at Mercy by surgical oncologist Dr. Armando Sardi, one of the pioneers in the field, and his colleagues Dr. Vadim Gushchin and Dr. Kurtis Campbell.
Research has shown that using heated chemotherapy and infusing it into the body as part of the surgery to remove tumors is much more effective in combating cancer and its spread than traditional intravenous chemotherapy.
In addition to offering HIPEC to eligible patients, Mercy is furthering research in the field through an ongoing study regarding the use of HIPEC as a first-line therapy for ovarian cancer. Patients have come from across the United States and from 12 different countries to participate in this study.
In other research, a study published in the Journal of Surgical Oncology found it was safe and effective to offer HIPEC not just at academic institutions but also at non-academic centers, opening the door to making HIPEC more mainstream and saving even more lives.
Mercy’s medical team also has connected with the growing community of cancer survivors through “Heat It To Beat It” (heatit.org), an event that raises funds and awareness about the treatment. The great majority of patients who have come to Mercy for HIPEC have learned about the treatment through the internet.
In further efforts to expand HIPEC treatment to more patients, Mercy has created the HIPEC Center, described by Dr. Gushchin as “a patient-centered approach, mastered through a multidisciplinary team of providers — surgeons, gynecologists, oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, primary care doctors, nurses, dietitians, geneticists and more, all coming together regularly to discuss cases and develop individual treatment plans to achieve the best possible results for our patients.”
For information, visit mdmercy.com.
A former Baltimore resident, Carol Sorgen is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon.
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