Research at the National Cancer Institute and other institutions around the world has led to the development of successful treatments for cancers which are too advanced to be removed surgically, but that are still confined to a specific organ or region of the body. These treatments are called Regional Perfusion Cancer Therapies, because a region of the body is perfused with chemotherapy. We have demonstrated dramatic success with these treatments. For complete information on this specialized technique, please visit the David C. Koch Regional Perfusion Cancer Therapy Center

Currently the best hope for cancer patients is if the cancer is detected early enough to be removed surgically. Many cancer patients, however, present to their physician with tumors too advanced to be removed, or the tumor comes back after surgery. Despite numerous recent advances in chemotherapy, the overall chance of chemotherapy causing the tumors to go away is very low, and the side effects are difficult for the patient. In general, if the cancer is too advanced for surgical removal, the patient will go on to die of his or her cancer. Often, despite being too advanced for surgical removal, the cancer remains confined to a single organ or a region of the body. For these cancers, chemotherapy can be circulated through these regions at very high concentrations without exposing the rest of the body to the drug. In this way the normal side effects of chemotherapy, such as nausea, vomiting, hair-loss, and infection can be completely avoided. As well, the chance of the tumor shrinking as a result of the treatment is increased as the tumor will be bathed in much higher concentrations of the drug compared to when the drug is given through the whole body. We believe the addition of heat (hyperthermia) is important for successful regional cancer treatment. The heat can kill cancer cells directly as well as improve the ability of chemotherapy to kill the cancer cells. The regional perfusion circuit includes a device to heat the chemotherapy.

The Center will initially focus on five regional perfusion treatments. These include Isolated Limb Perfusion (arm or leg perfusion), Intraperitoneal Hyperthermic Chemoperfusion (abdominal cavity perfusion), Isolated Hepatic Perfusion (liver perfusion), Pleural Cavity Perfusion (chest cavity perfusion), and Isolated Lung Perfusion (lung perfusion). These techniques have been previously established from a technical perspective, and success against cancer has been demonstrated. It is possible that other regional treatments can be designed and tested within the Center of Excellence as part of its research mission.