NEW TREATMENT KEEPS LATE-STAGE CANCER PATIENTS ALIVE FOR UP TO THREE YEARS
Late-stage stomach cancer patients are being kept alive for three years with a new technique that bathes the abdomen in warm chemotherapy drugs.
Gastric cancer is one of the deadliest diseases, with the average stage-four patient usually dying within 13 months.
But new trials by the Mayo Clinic show that patients can be kept alive far longer by removing internal tumours then swishing the stomach and abdominal cavity with drugs heated to 113.9 (45.5C).
Researchers found that 96 per cent of patients survived for a year, while 78 per cent were still alive after two years. Some 55 per cent of trial participants were still alive at three years.
Dr Travis Grotz, surgical oncologist from the Mayo Clinic, said: “People with gastric cancer are usually told they have no hope and no options. Our research team was determined to improve outcomes for these patients so they can have more time with their family and friends.
“Although we still have a long way to go, we’ve made some big strides and will continue to make progress to provide hope and healing for our patients.”
Deadly disease
There are around 6,500 new gastric cancer cases in the UK every year, which occurs by uncontrolled growth of cells that can eventually start spreading outside of the stomach in a process known as peritoneal metastasis.
Most gastric cancers are found when the disease has spread beyond the stomach and a cure is less likely.
For the new study, patients received surgery to remove all visible tumours in the stomach and the abdominal cavity followed by a technique called hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (Hipec).
During Hipec, tubes are inserted into the abdominal cavity and hot chemotherapy drugs are administered, in this case cisplatin and paclitaxel, for 90 minutes to kill any remaining microscopic cancer cells.
Heating the chemotherapy drugs and administering them directly into the abdominal cavity allows for both a higher dosage and greater penetration of the chemotherapy, resulting in more cancer cells being destroyed than conventional treatment, say the researchers.
The patients received an average of seven cycles of chemotherapy prior to undergoing cytoreductive surgery combined with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy.
After the procedure, the patients stayed in the hospital for around six days, with most patients having no complications.
“The median survival for most stage-four gastric cancer patients is around 13 months,” added Dr Grotz.
“By using this new combination of chemotherapy drugs during hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, more than half of our patients are still alive three years after surgery.”
The research team is looking to improve outcomes even further by performing similar procedures robotically to require smaller abdominal incisions.
Eventually, Dr Grotz hopes to do the procedure even sooner after diagnosis to prevent the spread of stomach cancer to the peritoneum.
The research was published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology.
2024-04-24T14:50:22Z dg43tfdfdgfd