Surgeons successfully removed advanced small intestine cancer that had spread to the peritoneum and targeted even microscopic cancer cells with a cutting-edge treatment.
Suncheonhyang University Seoul Hospital has pioneered a new treatment approach by completely excising peritoneal metastatic lesions in patients with small intestine cancer, followed by the hospital’s first-ever implementation of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC).
The hospital announced on Thursday that a surgical team led by Drs. Song Young-min and LeeSeung-ho successfully performed complete resection of peritoneal metastatic lesions and HIPEC on a patient in their 70s with small intestine adenocarcinoma and peritoneal metastasis on October 1.
Peritoneal metastasis occurs when cancer cells spread to the peritoneum, the membrane lining the abdominal cavity.
This condition can stem from various abdominal cancers, including stomach, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers. When cancer cells have already disseminated throughout the abdomen, systemic chemotherapy alone often proves insufficient, making treatment particularly challenging.
According to hospital officials, peritoneal metastatic cancer often shows poor response to standard chemotherapy, targeted therapy, or immunotherapy, underscoring the potential significance of intraperitoneal treatments like HIPEC.
The breakthrough in this treatment lies in its dual approach, targeting both visible tumors and microscopic cancer cells simultaneously.
Initially, the surgical team meticulously removed as much of the cancerous tissue from the peritoneum as possible. They then performed HIPEC, circulating heated chemotherapy drugs directly within the abdominal cavity.
HIPEC involves heating chemotherapy drugs and circulating them within the abdominal cavity for a specific duration, attacking any remaining microscopic cancer cells after visible metastatic lesions have been surgically removed.
For patients with peritoneal metastasis, the extensive scope of surgery and potentially prolonged operation time necessitate close collaboration among the medical team.
Drs. Song and Lee worked in tandem from the surgical planning stage through the resection of the peritoneal metastatic lesions and the implementation of HIPEC.
They strategically divided their roles to remove the extensive peritoneal metastatic lesions before administering HIPEC.
Building on this inaugural HIPEC procedure, the hospital aims to expand its precision medicine research to predict treatment outcomes for individual patients.
Dr. Song stated that it plans to advance our research by classifying patient groups through molecular-level analyses of biopsy samples. This will helps them identify patients who are likely to respond well to HIPEC treatment.
Dr. Lee added that by leveraging both clinical data and molecular-level testing, it aims to refine patient selection and offer aggressive surgical interventions when appropriate. This approach will helps them realize the promise of precision medicine.