UMC uses ‘hot chemotherapy’ to kill cancer cells
University Medical Center has a cancer treatment procedure that cannot be found at any other hospital in El Paso.
Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is used to help treat patients with colon cancer.
HIPEC is heated chemotherapy that is delivered directly to the abdomen during surgery to kill cancer cells.
Dr. Vijaya Galic, an gynecologic oncologist at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, said the hot chemotherapy comes after an extensive surgery that can last eight to twelve hours.
During the surgery, Dr. Galic said cancer cells that can be seen are removed then the hot chemotherapy follows to target the rest of the cells.
“The chemotherapy bath is almost 108 degrees fahrenheit,” Galic said.
She said HIPEC is only offered in select (surgery) centers in the U.S., including El Paso. Otherwise patients would have to travel out of the city to receive treatment.
“The reason HIPEC isn’t commonly found is because it has to be paired with a really extensive surgery, so there’s limitations on the centers that can offer this very complex surgery safely,” Galic said.
Cetain people who are diagnosed with colon cancer or other forms of cancer that affect the abdomen can use this form of “aggressive” surgery and heated chemotherapy could improve survival rates, according to Galic.
Galic said this procedure is now being used for patients who have ovarian cancer.
“We’ve seen the survival benefits.”
The benefit includes giving cancer patients an opportunity to live a longer life.
“It’s giving them hope,” Galic said.
ABC-7 talked to Rosa Isela Chavez who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and recently underwent the HIPEC procedure.
In a wheelchair, with her son by her side Chavez said she trusted in Dr. Galic to help give her another chance at life.
“With a cancer diagnosis, we supposedly don’t have a long life to live, but this is when we most want to live. We want to live for our grandchildren,” Chavez said in Spanish as tears rolled down her face.
Chavez said she did not hesitate when Dr. Galic gave her the hot chemotherapy option.
“I believed in her (Dr. Galic),” Chavez said.
