The Colon Club

Hello,
My sister has been fighting stage IV colon cancer four years. She currently has inoperatable mets on her liver. We were hoping to go to SKM this month and discuss the possibility of a hai pump, only to learn that the treatment is being discontinued since the company stopped making the pump. SKM no longer has the treatment available accounting to my sister’s oncologist at mgh in Boston. Does anyone have more info? Are there alternatives? Anyone aware of hospitals still offering this or similar procedures.

Thank you,
Elizabeth.

Please contact MSK directly. It's my understanding that they bought up the remaining inventory of the Codman pumps so they may still have some. If not, there was talk about using a different pump.

If your sister only has liver mets, I would encourage you to contact MSK and seek HAI treatment.

hiker

Thank you. Her oncologist, Dr Nip, contacted Dr Epstein directly yesterday. We are waiting for an appointment. Dr Nip believes that SKM is no longer offering that treatment. I’m hoping he is wrong. I’m also hoping we can get some back up hospitals, like Anderson, who still have pumps available if SKM does not.

Why the fuck did they discontinue production. The studies were so promising. I’m pretty pissed. She did 3 months of chemo first, so minimize disrupting her summer plans with her young children. No they are freaking not available!!!

I know two people who are scheduled for HAI pump implants this month at MSK, so not sure your doc is correct.

Here is an article discussing the pump being discontinued:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/25/heal ... evice.html

You can be the judge as to why they stopped making it.

Disclaimer: Dr. Kemeny is my oncologist and Dr. D'Angelica is my surgeon.

hiker

Your onc is incorrect. MSK is getting HAI pumps now from Medtronic. They are battery powered rather than pressure powered. The Codman pumps are being saved for people who qualify for Kemeny’s trial (non KRAs mutation). The Medtronic pumps are for everyone else. See if you can get in Kemeny’s trial, or if not ask about the Medtronic pumps. I am having this surgery done next week by Dr Kingham. It’s still being done!

Thank you so much for the information. Mgh does not offer hai pumps and sends people to SKM. As of this morning, my sister was still waiting on the appointment. Sounds like things have been sorted out in the last few weeks. You guys are far more in the know then many doctors.

heiders33 wrote:Your onc is incorrect. MSK is getting HAI pumps now from Medtronic. They are battery powered rather than pressure powered. The Codman pumps are being saved for people who qualify for Kemeny’s trial (non KRAs mutation). The Medtronic pumps are for everyone else. See if you can get in Kemeny’s trial, or if not ask about the Medtronic pumps. I am having this surgery done next week by Dr Kingham. It’s still being done!

This is encouraging. My wife and I have reached out to MSK for a possible consultation. We live in Raleigh, so not too much of a burden travel wise. But, my interest in MSK was due to the HAI pump possibility. If that were off the table now, we have top notch cancer centers right here in North Carolina. Although, my wife still thinks I should at least visit the folks at MD Anderson.

I know someone who just got an HAI pump installed at MSK a few weeks ago. He asked his onc about the pumps being discontinued. He was told MSK is continuing to offer them as a surgical option to patients. Good luck!

Thanks, @DBF. I just had a liver biopsy done today to confirm suspicious new spots. It’s only been two and a half months since my first of two liver resections. Not happy about this considering I’ve had a very positive journey since my original Dx back in January. The good news is that nothing shows up anywhere else in my body. So, if it turns out that my CRC can’t get enough of my liver, then we would want to at least explore HAI to slow this thing down.