# 'Shake and bake' chemo for some advanced cancers



## twilyth (Dec 3, 2011)

This has been around for about a decade but has been very controversial since it involves so many internal organs and requires the patient's thoracic cavity to be open for so long.  However for very advanced and aggressive forms of certain cancers like colon and appendix, it seems to provide some hope.

The procedure involves creating a long incision in the thorax, cutting out the visible tumors and then flooding the thoracic (peritoneal?) cavity with chemo drugs that have been heated to 108F.  Then the surgeon manually shakes the patient for about 1.5 hours.

Note:  Some new developments were reported tonight on CBS news but I couldn't find a link.

full story



> A controversial, aggressive and rarely-performed cancer treatment, commonly called hot chemotherapy, was recently up for debate at the 2011 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.
> 
> Hot chemotherapy (or hot chemo baths) is a procedure that involves cutting open the abdominal cavity and surgically removing all visible cancers from organs (cytoreductive surgery). The incision is then stitched back up and 3 liters saline and chemotherapeutic liquid is pumped into the abdomen at 42 degrees Celsius (about 108 degrees Fahrenheit). Some doctors are reported as saying the heat makes the chemotherapy more effective.
> 
> For 90 minutes to two hours, nurses jiggle the abdomen gently to ensure it reaches all abdominal crevices. The liquid is then pumped out. This “chemo bath” part of the procedure is called hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (Hipec).


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