The Annals of Extreme Surgery
By BARRON H. LERNER
NYT
THE heat is on again in the world of cancer treatment, both literally and figuratively.
More and more doctors are now using an extremely aggressive procedure to treat certain colorectal and ovarian cancers called Hipec, in which patients first undergo surgery to remove any visible cancer, then have heated chemotherapy pumped into the abdominal cavity for 90 minutes to kill any remaining cells.
Although it has given some patients hope, there is almost no evidence that the treatment is more effective than traditional chemotherapy — besides one small trial in the Netherlands over a decade ago that did show a benefit, but in which 8 percent of the participants died from the procedure itself.
We shouldn’t be surprised by the sudden emergence of this therapy. Heated chemotherapy is the latest in a long list of very toxic treatments used by well-meaning cancer doctors who have confused doing more for patients with doing what is best for them.
(More here.)
NYT
THE heat is on again in the world of cancer treatment, both literally and figuratively.
More and more doctors are now using an extremely aggressive procedure to treat certain colorectal and ovarian cancers called Hipec, in which patients first undergo surgery to remove any visible cancer, then have heated chemotherapy pumped into the abdominal cavity for 90 minutes to kill any remaining cells.
Although it has given some patients hope, there is almost no evidence that the treatment is more effective than traditional chemotherapy — besides one small trial in the Netherlands over a decade ago that did show a benefit, but in which 8 percent of the participants died from the procedure itself.
We shouldn’t be surprised by the sudden emergence of this therapy. Heated chemotherapy is the latest in a long list of very toxic treatments used by well-meaning cancer doctors who have confused doing more for patients with doing what is best for them.
(More here.)
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