Intraperitoneal chemotherapy vs. IV chemotherapy

antcat · July 2011

Hi everyone, I was just wondering if anyone has gone thru Intraperitoneal chemo and how that worked. I've been on IV chemo for the last 5 years and I don't know, they just can't seem to find the right chemo combination. I understand that IP chemo might work a little better but I also heard that it's a rough treatment.

Just wondering if anyone who had this treatment had positive results.

cfont11 · July 2011

IP versus IV
I did not have IP chemo but checked into it before I started treatments. All the doctors I saw said I was not a candidate for it due to my intestines being damaged from the cancer but they all said side effects are worse than for IV chemo. I have a close friend who had it and she was very ill from her treatments. It is hard to say, everyone is different and gets different side effects. Talking to the doctors about the risks and side effects is your best bet.

JoanC · July 2011

IP
Hi,
I had IP and got thru half way before I had to quit due to blood clots in my lungs....but I think it has been good for me. I finished chemo Oct. 2008 and have been NED ever since and my CA125 has stayed at 6....I did not think it was rough but it is different for everyone.
((Hugs)) Joan

Hissy_Fitz · July 2011

JoanC said:
IP
Hi,
I had IP and got thru half way before I had to quit due to blood clots in my lungs....but I think it has been good for me. I finished chemo Oct. 2008 and have been NED ever since and my CA125 has stayed at 6....I did not think it was rough but it is different for everyone.
((Hugs)) Joan

I don't know anyone who had
I don't know anyone who had IP after first line chemo, but I guess it's possible.

I really wanted to do it but my doctor would not prescribe it, due to my bowel obstruction. He says only 40% of his patients are able to tolerate the full course of treatment, and it uses up precious time to get them back up to snuff so they can go on traditional IV treatments. I still wished I had at least been given the option.

Carlene

lauripiper · July 2011

Hissy_Fitz said:
I don't know anyone who had
I don't know anyone who had IP after first line chemo, but I guess it's possible.

I really wanted to do it but my doctor would not prescribe it, due to my bowel obstruction. He says only 40% of his patients are able to tolerate the full course of treatment, and it uses up precious time to get them back up to snuff so they can go on traditional IV treatments. I still wished I had at least been given the option.

Carlene

IP
I've only heard of it being used a first line treatment but that's not to say it's not possible to do it later. I had IP for 4 of my six treatments and tolerated it well, better actually than the IV treatments. That said I too read all the horror stories of how much harder it is. You just have to do your best to stay ahead of the side effects the same as you would with IV treatments. I also had very long slow infusions with a lot of saline to flush it out, I don't know if that is usual or if that is what helped.

LaundryQueen · July 2011

lauripiper said:
IP
I've only heard of it being used a first line treatment but that's not to say it's not possible to do it later. I had IP for 4 of my six treatments and tolerated it well, better actually than the IV treatments. That said I too read all the horror stories of how much harder it is. You just have to do your best to stay ahead of the side effects the same as you would with IV treatments. I also had very long slow infusions with a lot of saline to flush it out, I don't know if that is usual or if that is what helped.

Laurel: Were you admitted to
Laurel: Were you admitted to the hospital for the IP therapy? Are you maintaining some degree of remission at this time?

Thanks for sharing,

LQ

kikz · July 2011

LaundryQueen said:
Laurel: Were you admitted to
Laurel: Were you admitted to the hospital for the IP therapy? Are you maintaining some degree of remission at this time?

Thanks for sharing,

LQ

IP
I had the IP put in during my debulking surgery. I didn't have much problem with the port itself except for some minor discomfort when I was laying down. During one infusion I had a lot of pain which they could not figure out. I made it through and they gave me ativan during the next infusion.

I was much sicker with the chemo I received throught the port. I ended up in the hospital twice and chemo was delayed a couple of times. My second time in the hospital prompted my oncologist to end my chemo. I had received all but the last infusion. Now whether all this has to do with the port or the fact that I was getting cisplatin/taxol (pre-surgery chemo was carbo/taxol) I don't know. I do know it was a very rough ride.

Karen

Unknown · July 2011

kikz said:
IP
I had the IP put in during my debulking surgery. I didn't have much problem with the port itself except for some minor discomfort when I was laying down. During one infusion I had a lot of pain which they could not figure out. I made it through and they gave me ativan during the next infusion.

I was much sicker with the chemo I received throught the port. I ended up in the hospital twice and chemo was delayed a couple of times. My second time in the hospital prompted my oncologist to end my chemo. I had received all but the last infusion. Now whether all this has to do with the port or the fact that I was getting cisplatin/taxol (pre-surgery chemo was carbo/taxol) I don't know. I do know it was a very rough ride.

Karen

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

carolenk · July 2011

unknown said:
This comment has been removed by the Moderator

Link to information
See if this link works for you--this is a research study comparing IP/IV chemotherapy for women w/ OVCA.

http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/results/summary/2007/ipchemo-qol0207

Carolen

Tethys41 · July 2011

IP vs IV
Back in 2009, I was told that the results for women who received IP chemotherapy were better than for those who had only IV chemotherapy. Can't tell you the numbers. The study being used for comparison back then even showed that women who did not complete the whole 6 rounds of IP treatment, benefitted from receiving the IP treatments they did recieve. There was no notable difference between the advantage of receiving one or two treatments vs. all six.

lauripiper · July 2011

Tethys41 said:
IP vs IV
Back in 2009, I was told that the results for women who received IP chemotherapy were better than for those who had only IV chemotherapy. Can't tell you the numbers. The study being used for comparison back then even showed that women who did not complete the whole 6 rounds of IP treatment, benefitted from receiving the IP treatments they did recieve. There was no notable difference between the advantage of receiving one or two treatments vs. all six.

IP
I didn't have to stay in the hospital though I could stayed overnight if I wanted. The long infusions usually took around 10 hours. That's because of pre-meds and the usual waiting around that you do. I'm in remission 5 months now, I was stage 3b or c and CA 125 at 13 last time. I insisted on IP because the studies support a better result and NCI recommends it. I did find that many hospitals and dr.'s don't do it because of the perceived difficulty despite the many studies that support it.

paris11 · July 2011

IP/IV CHEMO INFUSION
Hi Cat,

I had IP/IV 18 consecutive weeks dense dose tx. I had tx outpatient. I was very apprehensive going into treatment. Hydration is very important. If you are uncomfortable with tx., you can always stop.

I had excellent results.

Best of luck,

Connie

annecris · July 2011

IP treatment
I had IP and IV cisplatin and tx from March - July 2009 - 6 treatments (Stage 3C- still NED 2years later!)- had no major problem but also had the very long slow infusions with a lot of saline to flush it out - saline administered the following three days for 4 hrs. each day which I know helped a great deal. The only problem I had was after the 2nd treatment there was some discomfort in my lower abdomen which they said may have been some irritation of the port near the place on my bowel which had been operated on but they slowed the infusions on my next dose and everything was fine after that - I was treated at Sloan Kettering and my dr. told me that other hospitals seemed to have problems with IP - its true though everyone and every case is different - I am so grateful that I was able to tolerate the IP becasue I had read the studies which said the outcomes were better when it was used. Good Luck Hon - You are in my Prayers

Hissy_Fitz · July 2011

annecris said:
IP treatment
I had IP and IV cisplatin and tx from March - July 2009 - 6 treatments (Stage 3C- still NED 2years later!)- had no major problem but also had the very long slow infusions with a lot of saline to flush it out - saline administered the following three days for 4 hrs. each day which I know helped a great deal. The only problem I had was after the 2nd treatment there was some discomfort in my lower abdomen which they said may have been some irritation of the port near the place on my bowel which had been operated on but they slowed the infusions on my next dose and everything was fine after that - I was treated at Sloan Kettering and my dr. told me that other hospitals seemed to have problems with IP - its true though everyone and every case is different - I am so grateful that I was able to tolerate the IP becasue I had read the studies which said the outcomes were better when it was used. Good Luck Hon - You are in my Prayers

Anne....did you do
Anne....did you do maintenance chemo, as well?

I know you are in the same study that I am doing at MSKCC, and noticed you said you are 2 years NED. I was just wondering how you got them to take you, since their criteria says no more than 3 months may have elapsed since the end of treatment that resulted in remission. In my case, it was the Taxol maintenance that qualified me. I finished first line treatment in March of 2010 and have been off all treatment (except the vaccine) since January, 2011. I don't know whether to say I am 6 months NED or 16 months NED.

Carlene

annecris · July 2011

Hissy_Fitz said:
Anne....did you do
Anne....did you do maintenance chemo, as well?

I know you are in the same study that I am doing at MSKCC, and noticed you said you are 2 years NED. I was just wondering how you got them to take you, since their criteria says no more than 3 months may have elapsed since the end of treatment that resulted in remission. In my case, it was the Taxol maintenance that qualified me. I finished first line treatment in March of 2010 and have been off all treatment (except the vaccine) since January, 2011. I don't know whether to say I am 6 months NED or 16 months NED.

Carlene

maintenance chemo?
Carlene - I had no maintenance chemo and have been off all treatment since July 2009 - so by the time I began the study in February of 2011 it had been 19 months since any treatment - I did not see the 3 month criteria in the information I was given so I just don't know - sure glad that they took me anyway- have you been feeling OK since the final shot? I have had all the energy back that i had seemed to have lost - I love love love that your CA-125 is such a sweet number - I will have mine done next Wed. when I go for my last monthly check-up - last count was 20 - i am looking for lower but will take the 20 - then its just maintenance every three months for us girlfriend!!!!! Hope we can sync one of those visits in together so i get to hug you in person - Love Ya - Annie

Hissy_Fitz · July 2011

annecris said:
maintenance chemo?
Carlene - I had no maintenance chemo and have been off all treatment since July 2009 - so by the time I began the study in February of 2011 it had been 19 months since any treatment - I did not see the 3 month criteria in the information I was given so I just don't know - sure glad that they took me anyway- have you been feeling OK since the final shot? I have had all the energy back that i had seemed to have lost - I love love love that your CA-125 is such a sweet number - I will have mine done next Wed. when I go for my last monthly check-up - last count was 20 - i am looking for lower but will take the 20 - then its just maintenance every three months for us girlfriend!!!!! Hope we can sync one of those visits in together so i get to hug you in person - Love Ya - Annie

I was told about the 3 month
I was told about the 3 month criteria by another patient in the trial, and just assumed she was correct. But I checked just now and did not see it.

I am doing good. Finally going to get my incisional hernia fixed. Dr S said, "You know, you will be out of commission for a month or more." Like that's something new. "And you will have to take medicine for pain." OK....and there is a downside to that? Although he agreed that it's "a very large hernia", he is not all that crazy about me having it done. Not sure why. But I'm tired of not being able to pick anything up, and it's up to the place where my low-rider jeans button across it, so my clothes don't fit right.

I have only been out of treatment since Jan of 2011, so I still worry a lot.

Carlene

Suepr · March 2018

IP Chemo

I have just been diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer and have started IP chemo. I am new to this chat stuff and this website. What does NED stand for? I had my first treatment 1 week ago and was in the hospital overnight due to the slow IV infusion of Taxol. I am getting Cisplatin but that was pretty quick. I will IP Taxol on day 8. I am curious if it is easier than the IP cisplatin or not. It is good to hear all the comments.

LorettaMarshall · March 2018

Suepr said:
IP Chemo
I have just been diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer and have started IP chemo. I am new to this chat stuff and this website. What does NED stand for? I had my first treatment 1 week ago and was in the hospital overnight due to the slow IV infusion of Taxol. I am getting Cisplatin but that was pretty quick. I will IP Taxol on day 8. I am curious if it is easier than the IP cisplatin or not. It is good to hear all the comments.

Suepr~Welcome~We R here 2 help if we can

Suepr ~ Since this topic forum isn’t currently active, I’ve chosen to put my comments on a “separate topic forum” for you here:

https://csn.cancer.org/node/315339

“Tethys41” is still here and “NED”. That stands for "No Evidence of Disease".

Other than her entry some time back, there are no others currently posting here. So you will get answers from women who are currently posting here if you have a “new topic forum” based on the questions and comments that you have. That way we can keep up with you and see how you are progressing, and hopefully cheer you along the way!

Loretta

Peritoneal Carcinomatosis/Ovarian Cancer Stage IV since November 2012 and still here, “just a little worse for wear!”

judndav · April 2018

My wife had both an IV port

My wife had both an IV port and an IP port. IV installed prior to surgery and her carbo/taxol were through IV port. After surgery did CisPlatin/taxol dose dense. Cis through IP and Tax through IV when both give on first treatment. Second and third infusions were TX only and Cis only both through IP (I think).

Jude always felt bloated since they did two bags of saline with the IP infusions. also did saline with IV infusions but unsure of amount.

The Cisplaten through IP had more nausea effects and fatigue than the IV infusions.

But I found and read the IP studies and yes an increase in PFS vs IV. Cuz it gets the drugs where the bugs reside.

Aloha Cindy · September 2018

Suepr said:
IP Chemo
I have just been diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer and have started IP chemo. I am new to this chat stuff and this website. What does NED stand for? I had my first treatment 1 week ago and was in the hospital overnight due to the slow IV infusion of Taxol. I am getting Cisplatin but that was pretty quick. I will IP Taxol on day 8. I am curious if it is easier than the IP cisplatin or not. It is good to hear all the comments.

IV chemo with IP chemo

Just thought I'd drop you a line. In September 2017 I had a diagnoses of Ovarian Cancer Stage lllc after optimal surgery. I had IV/IP chemo treatments starting October 2017. Before the ports were put in I had an IV chemo of Carboplatin/Paxclitaxol then I did Taxotere (IV) with Cisplatin (IP) 1st then 8 days later Taxol (IP) then one week off. I did 8 repeats then in February 2018 my creatinine levels rose (which shows kidney function was not great) so they waited two weeks then I had one (IV) Carboplatin/Paclitaxol. In March I was declared in remission.

As far as side effects I had a few - neuropathy, restless leg syndrome and weak in the knees couldn't walk far and general weakness. I also was hydrated three days after each session really helped perk me up. I do generally drink lots of fluids too.

I hope this helps.

Bulldogsrule · October 2018

IP Chemo

Hi! Everyone is different and have different reactions to chemo, both IV and IP. I had both. I had IV chemo for several treatments, then radical hysterectomy and omentum removal, then more IV chemo along with IP chemo. The worst symptoms I ever had with any of it was fatigue and hair loss. I felt like I slept a ton of the time. Took me 3-5 days to get past each treatment, then repeat every 3 weeks. The worst thing about the IP chemo was the pain during treatment. They always had difficulty inserting the needle at the right place into the port in my abodomen. Most of the treatments were uncomfortable with two being pretty painful. However, they can add morphone or other things to help with pain. If I had it do over again, I would do it again! IP chemo is in the abdominal cavity and you have to rotate on your sides for a couple of hours afterwards, but the drugs get in the hard to reach places and are directly where the cancer cells are, not just through your system. So, I'd at least ask about it and know that you can stop at any point if it becomes too much. I would also recommend looking into naturopathic options to consider along with standard treatment options.

Intraperitoneal chemotherapy vs. IV chemotherapy

Comments

Discussion Boards