What is HIPEC or Perfusion Surgery or IPHC or CRS/HIPEC?
CRS/HIPEC – CytoReductive Surgery combined with Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy. By using standard surgical methods, all or nearly all-visible tumor in the abdomen is removed (cytoreduction). In an effort to treat any remaining tumor cells, HIPEC is performed. The term “intraperitoneal” means that the treatment is delivered to the abdominal cavity. The term “hyperthermic chemotherapy” means that heated fluid (hyperthermic refers to temperatures greater than normal body temperature) is circulated (perfused) throughout the stomach cavity (abdomen). The heated fluid contains an anti-cancer drug (chemotherapy drug). This drug, Mitomycin-C, has been shown to be effective at killing tumor cells remaining in the abdominal cavity after surgery. Other chemotherapy drugs may also be used.
