The Colon Club

From a ColonTown thread, institutions referenced that install the pump:

MSK
NIH
Froedert in Milwaukee
OSU in Columbus
WVU Cancer Institute
Cleveland Clinic
Grand Rapids, MI (doesn't say which institution)

The thread - written by a doctor - referenced 14 places in the US but did not list them all, so I'm just piecing a list together from the comments.

From Googling, it looks like U of Wisconsin used to do the Codman pump, but not sure they do the new Medtronic pump.

A surgeon, who is implanting HAI pump is answering the question a about the pump on Colontown - facebook based group. First hand info available from him

Here's a funny resource!

http://dev.haipump.com/haipumpfinder/

Not sure how up to date it is...?

Wow that’s incredible. I wonder how many of them are adopting and servicing the Medtronic pumps.

I deactivated Facebook several years ago but I might have to rejoin just for this group. I wonder if there’s a way I can filter everything else out....

This is a really helpful thread - thanks to all that have contributed! Does anyone know of any hospitals outside of the US that are skilled in installing or maintaining the HAI pump? I have international insurance but the logistics of travelling to the US for long-term treatment like HAI are not straightforward (as opposed to for, say, a one-off surgery). Thanks

I’ve been lurking around on Colon town for a week or so. Lots of good info over there. Also another great Facebook group is Liver mets from CRC. Lots of people with the pump on those groups. You get to see that this pump has helped a lot of people but it has also hurt some people as well. A couple of women on some of those groups went into liver failure and need/needed liver trans plants. It puts a great perspective on this treatment. I personally still am in favor of it for myself. Another common issue i have seen regaurding this pump is the mounting of it. Quite a few people had to have it reattached due to installation issues. As far as more Hospitals doing it? NIH is doing a trial, west virgina is starting their pump program, Cleavland Clinic appears to be using them as well as NorthWestern. People have mentioned a hispital in Michigan doing them as well. Im flying to NewYork tomorrow morning to meet with Dr. Kemeny on Wednesday. I will update here when I know more.

FWIW, I had my Medtronic Pump implanted at the University of Minnesota in 2004. I didn't have any issues with it. I drove 16 hours roundtrip for the treatment that would save my life over 14 years ago.

I don't know if the U of MN still implants the pump.

I had my appointment today at MSK, was told by Dr.Kemeny to go back home and start Folfox by next week. She wants be back on 12/18 for scans and a likely surgery. She wants to see if I can get to a partial resection after 3 rounds of FolFox. And then get the pump. If I cant im guessing im just gonna get the pump. She gave me a great deal of hope today as my ONC at home would not give me any. I truly admire that woman. She is in her 70s and probably very wealthy but doesn’t retire because you can see it’s important for her to help people survive. I believe traveling from Chicago to NewYork once a month or even every 2 weeks will be tough but at the end of the day surviving or even possibly getting a shot at a cure is priceless. Today marks 1 month that I found out I had stage 4 CRC. This disease has taught me some great lessons. The most important one being there are some truly great, caring, and remarkable people in this world. I still can’t believe how many people reached out to offer help in any way they could from a ride to work if I was to sick to donating me airline miles or even offering to rake my leaves. My faith in humanity has been completely restored and I have been truly humbled.

Thanks for the update. Sounds promising!

Did you talk at all about the pump getting filled at NW to cut back on all the travel required? Asking selfishly as it would be tough for me to manage that much travel...

ginabeewell wrote:Thanks for the update. Sounds promising!

Did you talk at all about the pump getting filled at NW to cut back on all the travel required? Asking selfishly as it would be tough for me to manage that much travel...

Yes I did ask, and its not selfish at all Gina. So they said they have done it with numerous patients and they are going to see if they can work it out with NorthWestern. So I didn’t get a firm yes or No but likely a yes. I think if you are interested in getting a second opinion from them you would have an even better chance as you already are being treated at Northwestern. You still would have to travel to NewYork pretty frequently tho. Just not every two weeks.

There are many threads here that address the HAI pump. I am posting on here because it's a relatively recent thread.

Many of you already know that the Codman pump, the only pump that had been used for many years for CC-liver, was discontinued this past spring. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/25/heal ... evice.html Another company, Medtronic, makes a similar pump, but it is approved for use in the spine, not the liver.

One obstacle is that the Codman pump requires a catheter that the Medtronic pump lacks.

My husband and I went to MSK the other day and met with Dr. Kemeny. We were given literature about the trial my husband would be put in, if he was to decide to go the HAI pump route. The trial question: Is the combination of the Medtronic pump and the Codman catheter device a safe alternative to the C3000 Codman pump for delivering chemotherapy directly into the liver of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer or cholangiocarcinoma?

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT ... eny&rank=1

So, given the device situation, I think MSK is the only place currently implanting pumps. I do not know of any other trial like this.

Sigh. Since this trial has only been going on for a couple of months, I am now a bit uneasy about this route. Anyone here part of the trial????? How's it going?????

mpbser wrote:There are many threads here that address the HAI pump. I am posting on here because it's a relatively recent thread.

Many of you already know that the Codman pump, the only pump that had been used for many years for CC-liver, was discontinued this past spring. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/25/heal ... evice.html Another company, Medtronic, makes a similar pump, but it is approved for use in the spine, not the liver.

One obstacle is that the Codman pump requires a catheter that the Medtronic pump lacks.

My husband and I went to MSK the other day and met with Dr. Kemeny. We were given literature about the trial my husband would be put in, if he was to decide to go the HAI pump route. The trial question: Is the combination of the Medtronic pump and the Codman catheter device a safe alternative to the C3000 Codman pump for delivering chemotherapy directly into the liver of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer or cholangiocarcinoma?

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT ... eny&rank=1

So, given the device situation, I think MSK is the only place currently implanting pumps. I do not know of any other trial like this.

Sigh. Since this trial has only been going on for a couple of months, I am now a bit uneasy about this route. Anyone here part of the trial????? How's it going?????

So im getting the pump installed in about a month at MSK with Kemeny/Kingham. There are a few other hospitals doing the new pump. Spectrum health in Grand Rapids Michiagan is one of them. I believe NIH is doing a trial on them niw and Duke is also starting a pump program. Northwestern is also planning on starting a pump program.

haha! I just PMed you cartech and you answered my question! We did not make a decision yet for a number of reasons including the fact that Dr. Kemeny has us coming down this week for a PET scan to confirm that my husband has mets. Upon review of his MRI the other day, they were not so sure!

P.S. It's good to know how far out these procedures are being booked there. We are expected to meet with Dr. Kingham before making the decision. I'm surprised at how quickly you got yours scheduled.

They are doing that trial because Medtronic wants it, but Kemeny seemed to write it off as a bureaucratic thing when I asked her about it. I wouldn’t worry about it.