August 18, 2015 – Ovarian Ca Therapy

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Anchor lead: Women with ovarian cancer may not be offered an often beneficial therapy, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Intraperitoneal chemotherapy, where chemotherapy drugs are infused directly into a woman’s abdominal cavity, isn’t offered to many women with ovarian cancer who could benefit, a recent study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology finds. Deb Armstrong, an ovarian cancer expert at Johns Hopkins, comments.

Armstrong: Intraperitoneal therapy is not that easy to use.  It requires that the patient spend a fair bit of time in the clinic or in the hospital.  The agents are generic drugs, they require though that the patients get a lot of fluids before and afterwards.  We also know that many patients will require to be seen by the nursing staff a few days afterward to get some extra nausea medication, some extra hydration.  It’s not a rocket science regimen but it’s pretty intensive.   :27

Armstrong says when used optimally, intraperitoneal chemotherapy can add many months to a woman’s life and should be offered to those who may benefit.  At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.