Cytoreductive Surgery with HIPEC

Cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC is a combined treatment for cancers that have spread across the lining of the abdomen, a thin membrane called the peritoneum. It joins two steps in a single operation. First the surgeon carefully removes every visible tumour deposit from the abdominal cavity, a stage known as cytoreduction. Then, while the patient is still under anaesthesia, a heated chemotherapy solution is circulated inside the abdomen for a set time to destroy the microscopic cancer cells that surgery alone cannot reach, a stage called HIPEC, short for hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Warming the drug and delivering it directly into the abdomen lets it act intensely where the disease lives while sparing the rest of the body much of the effect of standard chemotherapy. For carefully selected patients this approach can offer meaningful, long-term control of disease that was once considered untreatable. Because it is a specialised, demanding operation performed by dedicated peritoneal-surface teams, many people travel abroad to reach centres with the experience and resources it requires.