NEW CANCER TREATMENT HELPING SOME LIVE LONGER
Doctors Use HIPEC To Treat Appexdix Cancer
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BOSTON -- A new treatment is helping some cancer patients live longer.It's a little-known way of administering chemotherapy that may improve patient chances of surviving the disease.
"It was a shock. I thought it was appendicitis or some type of blockage in my stomach," said patient Bob Morrissey.
Last July, after three months of stomach pain, the 41-year-old Brockton police detective and devoted dad was diagnosed with a rare form of appendix cancer.
"It was quite a shock to hear I was having a rare form of cancer in my body at that time," Morrissey said.
Luckily for Morrissey, Tufts New England Medical Center's Dr. Martin Goodman is one of the few surgeons in the country performing Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC). Goodman performed HIPEC on Morrissey very soon after his diagnosis.
"You are basically bathing the abdomen with this heated chemotherapy," Goodman said.
With HIPEC, doctors first perform surgery to remove any tumors. Then, high doses of heated chemotherapy are circulated throughout the abdomen. It can take up to 12 hours.
"This is beneficial for patients that have the disease on the outside of the organs, especially in the abdomen, because standard chemotherapy doesn't like to get into the abdominal cavity very well," Goodman said.
HIPEC has been shown to keep cancer survivors alive six years or more. Morrissey feels stronger every day, allowing him to get back to his detective job and most importantly, his son's hockey games.
"That's it. All done. Just time to move on. Move on with life. Put this chapter behind me and move forward," he said.
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