INNOVATION
Creating a New Standard of Care
Advanced therapies offer hope for patients with recurrent cancer.
By Jeff Samoray
Charles Komen Brown, MD, PhD, medical director of surgery for CTCA and national director of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy
KAREN NUGENT, a 56-year-old elementary school secretary from Lapeer, Michigan, was diagnosed with stage III ovarian cancer in 2007 and underwent surgery to remove a large tumor from her abdomen. Though doctors told her they believed they had removed all of the can- cer, they were not optimistic about her long-term prognosis, and she was told she may only survive for five years. Determined to try one more approach,
Karen sought care at Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA) in Zion, Illinois. At CTCA Karen underwent five months of intense chemotherapy
34 cancer fighters thrive | summer 2012
and was doing well in December 2007. Unfortunately, the disease was persis- tent, and the cancer returned the follow- ing April. "I felt confident after receiving che-
motherapy," Karen says, "but once you have cancer, you never stop wondering if it will come back. I felt very frustrated when it returned. I didn't know what else could be done." Fortunately for patients like Karen with recurrent cancers,
surgical treat-
ments that combine multiple therapies are available. These treatments offer hope for patients by reducing recurrence
rates and improving both length and quality of life.
TARGETED CHEMOTHERAPY
Because the tumors were localized with- in Karen's abdomen, she was a candidate for an advanced surgical treatment called hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemoper- fusion (HIPEC). During the procedure, the surgeon removes as much of the can- cer as possible. The remaining cancer cells are treated with a sterilized, heated chemotherapy that circulates through the abdominal cavity for 90 minutes. The chemotherapy kills any microscopic
cfthrive.com