HIPEC

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belindahill
belindahill Member Posts: 144
in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi, I have been in touch with Basingstoke about Hipec surgery, but they say my husband is not eligible for this because he has spot on lung and liver, so his cancer is not curable.

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  • westie66
    westie66 Member Posts: 642
    #2
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    HIPEC Surgery
    Hi: I have been turned down as well for the "mother of all" surgeries. I have gallbladder cancer Stage IV - cancer was removed with the gallbladder and part of the liver in April 2010 but had spread to another spot on the liver and to the peritoneum. I was eligible for the surgery, sort of, until they found the spread to the liver. Perhaps they can control the other tumours first if you can find a surgeon to work on that. I'm sure the peritoneum stripping/HIPEc folks will be reluctant to do the surgery if there are mets elsewhere. Dr Superbaker there in the US in the expert and it might be worth a second opinion. If you look on the peritoneum discussion board on this website and in many discussion threads on the colonclub website, you'll find lots of discussions about HIPEC surgery. Good luck!
    Cheryl
  • LivinginNH
    LivinginNH Member Posts: 1,456 Member
    #3
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    westie66 said:

    HIPEC Surgery
    Hi: I have been turned down as well for the "mother of all" surgeries. I have gallbladder cancer Stage IV - cancer was removed with the gallbladder and part of the liver in April 2010 but had spread to another spot on the liver and to the peritoneum. I was eligible for the surgery, sort of, until they found the spread to the liver. Perhaps they can control the other tumours first if you can find a surgeon to work on that. I'm sure the peritoneum stripping/HIPEc folks will be reluctant to do the surgery if there are mets elsewhere. Dr Superbaker there in the US in the expert and it might be worth a second opinion. If you look on the peritoneum discussion board on this website and in many discussion threads on the colonclub website, you'll find lots of discussions about HIPEC surgery. Good luck!
    Cheryl

    Just FYI - Dr. Sugarbaker
    Just FYI - Dr. Sugarbaker himself told my Rick that he no longer does HIPEC surgery on colon cancer patients. We did it anyway - at Tufts, figured we had to try it anyway.
  • traci43
    traci43 Member Posts: 773 Member
    #4
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    HIPEC
    As mentioned HIPEC is for mets to peritoneum not liver/lungs. That should be why he is not eligile for HIPEC, not whether it's curable or not. There are different treatments for liver mets and lung mets and others on the board have had them. If your Dr won't do anything because it's "not curable" get another onc that will at least try something. Still no guarantees of a cure, but at least you're trying! Best of luck to you and your husband.
  • traci43
    traci43 Member Posts: 773 Member
    #5
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    LivinginNH said:

    Just FYI - Dr. Sugarbaker
    Just FYI - Dr. Sugarbaker himself told my Rick that he no longer does HIPEC surgery on colon cancer patients. We did it anyway - at Tufts, figured we had to try it anyway.

    interesting
    Is that because he's retiring or because of the outcomes?
  • LivinginNH
    LivinginNH Member Posts: 1,456 Member
    #6
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    traci43 said:

    interesting
    Is that because he's retiring or because of the outcomes?

    Yes, we were told that he

    Yes, we were told that he wasn't seeing good results for colon cancer patients. Although he is still doing HIPEC for appendix cancer that has spread to the peritoneal cavity. Also, HIPEC will not be preformed by any surgeon (that we know of) if the patient has cancer showing up any place else, i.e., the lungs or liver. Rick's peritoneal cancer spread to his liver, which is why he couldn't have HIPEC last month. He's now back on Folfiri permanently.

    All my best,

    Cynthia
  • LivinginNH
    LivinginNH Member Posts: 1,456 Member
    #7
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    traci43 said:

    interesting
    Is that because he's retiring or because of the outcomes?

    double post

    double post
  • belindahill
    belindahill Member Posts: 144
    #8
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    LivinginNH said:

    Yes, we were told that he

    Yes, we were told that he wasn't seeing good results for colon cancer patients. Although he is still doing HIPEC for appendix cancer that has spread to the peritoneal cavity. Also, HIPEC will not be preformed by any surgeon (that we know of) if the patient has cancer showing up any place else, i.e., the lungs or liver. Rick's peritoneal cancer spread to his liver, which is why he couldn't have HIPEC last month. He's now back on Folfiri permanently.

    All my best,

    Cynthia

    Hi livinginHN
    Hi, your story similar to mine, my husband Ian has been battling since Aug 10, hes not so good at this moment, waiting to start another round of chemo. Hoping this will turn things around for him. How old is your husband?
  • LivinginNH
    LivinginNH Member Posts: 1,456 Member
    #9
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    belindahill said:

    Hi livinginHN
    Hi, your story similar to mine, my husband Ian has been battling since Aug 10, hes not so good at this moment, waiting to start another round of chemo. Hoping this will turn things around for him. How old is your husband?

    Rick will be 45 years young

    Rick will be 45 years young next month. He's feeling better today since he no longer has that nasty bowel obstruction. (He needed a week off from chemo anyway since the last round really kicked the you-know-what out of him.) Oddly enough, yesterday his G.I. surgeon changed his diet 180 degrees from all the fruits and veggies I was feeding him since they were actually binding him up with TOO MUCH fiber! Dang, we tried to eat lots of good all natural stuff and the payoff was the Emergency Room! We just can't win....

    Hope that your hubby starts to feel better again soon!

    Hugs,

    Cyn
  • westie66
    westie66 Member Posts: 642
    #10
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    traci43 said:

    HIPEC
    As mentioned HIPEC is for mets to peritoneum not liver/lungs. That should be why he is not eligile for HIPEC, not whether it's curable or not. There are different treatments for liver mets and lung mets and others on the board have had them. If your Dr won't do anything because it's "not curable" get another onc that will at least try something. Still no guarantees of a cure, but at least you're trying! Best of luck to you and your husband.

    HIPEC
    Hi: Sorry but I have to comment. HIPEC following debulking or peritoneum stripping was originally designed for women with ovarian cancer that had spread to the peritoneum (this apparently happens in about 50% of women). Then it was found that a few appendix cancer patients with spread to the peritoneum could also benefit if conditions were excellent. It has not been as successful for colon cancer patients with spread to the peritoneum unfortunately but has been attempted. It has been lethal for gallbladder cancer patients with spread to the peritoneum. I haven't heard of any survivors here. I was turned down because of mets to the liver as well (one little tumour - I have gallbladder cancer) because that would involve two big major surgeries with little chance of success. But I suspect I would have been turned down even if I didn't have a met to the liver. In other words, the ovarian oncologists are optimistic about this procedure but not the gastro oncologist surgeons. I think that is why he (and me) were turned down - too many mets with not a good chance for success. I'm sure his oncologist will try the chemo for life route (until something better is discovered) - that's what I'm doing.
    Cheryl

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