Mercy's Drs. Armando Sardi and Teresa Diaz-Montes Discuss HIPEC as First Line Treatment for Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is particularly deadly -- 75 to 80 percent of women are at an advanced stage by the time they're diagnosed, but there's a promising new approach to treatment that's currently under study.

Mercy Medical Center surgical oncologist Dr. Armando Sardi of The Institute for Cancer Care and Mercy gynecologic oncologist Dr. Teresa Diaz-Montes of The Gynecologic Oncology Center at Mercy are teaming up to fight ovarian cancer.

They are part of a study using a technique called Hyperthermic (Heated) Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy, or HIPEC. It's a two-step cancer treatment process. Surgeons first remove the cancer, then immediately administer heated chemotherapy to kill microscopic cancer cells left behind.

"The idea is to combine two specialties, surgical oncology and gynecological oncology to work together to assure all the tumor is removed, which is the most important aspect of the component," Dr. Sardi said.

HIPEC is already used to treat abdominal cancers and the study involving ovarian cancer, which began in Europe four years ago, is promising so far.

"People seem to be living longer, although it's too early to tell," Dr. Sardi said.

In fact, the very first ovarian cancer patient involved in the study is still alive today.

"We're very excited about what we have accomplished. We have that first patient that we did with HIPEC, and she's four years out and she had bad, stage 4 or stage 3, cancer, and she's fine," Dr. Diaz-Montes said.
"It's something that I think could change the life of many women," Dr. Sardi added.

To view Dr. Sardi and Dr. Diaz-Montes’ interview regarding HIPEC for ovarian cancer, click here.