Hello All,
I'm investigating HIPEC as it seems like an appropriate procedure for me. Here's a link to my most recent post which contains a lot of information I gathered from Dr. Labow at Mt.Sinai in case anyone else finds the information useful. I wanted to ask though for those who have done the research before me what are the arguments against HIPEC. It seems to me after reading a few studies (and hearing summaries from my husband who has seemingly read everything on the topic) the arguments against are (1) there hasn't been any broad study of its effectiveness (the existing studies contained a limited number of cases from multiple countries in the range of 15 to 100) so there isn't anything really definitive to speak to its effectiveness so there's risk in that regard, (2) as a corollary to (1), there are arguments about selection biases for the existing studies meaning that the people who do well would have done well in the studies would have done well anyway under more traditional chemotherapy treatment and (3) given that uncertainty, the surgery can be quite serious with serious complications.
It seems to me that while HIPEC seems more effective for other types of cancer (such as appendicital or ovarian cancer), it is nonetheless a life extender if not necessarily a life saver in most cases. It also seems to me purely based on anectodal information that no one ever seems to "regret" doing HIPEC. I'm interested in hearing from naysayers and proponents of HIPEC. Thanks.
Julie
http://julieyipwilliams.wordpress.com/2 ... ews-maybe/