Treatment of peritoneal cancer depends on the stage of cancer,
where the primary tumor started, how far it has spread, and the patient’s
overall health. In some cases, we might use surgery to remove as much of
the cancer as possible. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are also options for
certain patients.
At UT Southwestern Medical Center, patients benefit from the
expertise of a full multidisciplinary team evaluating each patient’s situation
and working together to determine the best course of treatment. Our peritoneal
cancer team includes a surgical oncologist, medical oncologist, radiation
oncologist, gynecologic oncologist, and other cancer care providers.
Treatment for Peritoneal Cancer
If the cancer started as a gynecologic
cancer or pleural cancer,
those teams at UT Southwestern will lead treatment.
If the peritoneal cancer started as a gastrointestinal tumor
or is diagnosed as peritoneal mesothelioma, specialists in our Peritoneal
Malignancies and HIPEC Program will lead treatment. These experts in peritoneal
cancer offer a procedure called cytoreductive surgery that is combined with
hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC).
Surgery with HIPEC
Cytoreductive, or debulking, surgery is an operation to
remove all visible cancer in the abdominal cavity, including any visible
peritoneal tumors or peritoneal spread of a gastrointestinal cancer.
After removing the tumors, the surgeon administers a heated chemotherapy
solution, about 107 degrees Fahrenheit, into the abdominal cavity, where it is
gently agitated for 90 minutes. Heating the chemotherapy solution improves
absorption by tumor cells that might remain in abdominal tissue. This
treatment, called HIPEC, can control symptoms and improve survival rates for
select patients whose tumors can be completely or nearly completely removed with
surgery.
Surgical oncologists at UT Southwestern, such as Patricio Polanco, M.D.,
have advanced training in this complex technique. The goal of HIPEC is to
control symptoms, prevent cancer from coming back, and, in some cases, even
cure the cancer. The operation takes six to nine hours, and the average
hospital stay after the procedure is seven to 14 days.
HIPEC is a complex procedure. Talk with our doctors about
the risks, benefits, and recovery.
Chemotherapy
Our medical oncologists use cancer-fighting medications
called chemotherapy to destroy cancer cells that have spread to other parts of
the body. We sometimes use chemotherapy before or after surgery for patients
with peritoneal cancer.
Targeted therapy
Some cancer-fighting medications can attack specific
abnormalities in or on cancer cells or can boost the immune system to attack
cancer cells. Our medical oncologists first test a patient’s cancer cells to
find out whether a specific targeted therapy might work. Targeted therapy can
be a treatment option for some patients with advanced primary peritoneal
cancer.
Radiation therapy
This noninvasive treatment uses high-energy radiation beams
to destroy cancer cells. Our radiation oncologists use machines that move
around patients as they lie on a table to deliver radiation to the tumor. We
sometimes recommend radiation therapy for patients with advanced primary or recurrent
peritoneal cancer.
