"Ovarian Cancer Surgery Patients' 'HIPEC' Procedure Increases Survival Period by 1.5 Times"

Yonsei Cancer Center Professors Lee Jung-yoon and Lee Yong-jae Team
Reduce Recurrence Risk by 40%

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwanju] A study has found that the 'HIPEC' procedure performed after chemotherapy and surgery for ovarian cancer patients is effective.

The research team led by Professors Lee Jung-yoon and Lee Yong-jae from the Gynecologic Cancer Center at Yonsei Cancer Hospital announced on the 4th that if the size of ovarian cancer is reduced to less than 1 cm through chemotherapy and surgery and the patient receives the HIPEC procedure, the survival period increases by 1.5 times.

Ovarian cancer occurs about 3,000 cases annually in South Korea, with a relatively low incidence rate, but it is a fatal cancer with the highest mortality rate among gynecologic cancers. Even with treatment, the recurrence rate reaches 60-80%.

HIPEC, one of the treatments for ovarian cancer, is a procedure that circulates chemotherapy drugs heated to about 41 degrees Celsius inside the abdominal cavity for about 90 minutes. It is a treatment method that utilizes the fact that ovarian cancer occurs only in the abdominal cavity and that cancer cells are sensitive to heat. It is effective in removing tumors that may remain in the abdominal cavity after surgery.

Comparison of progression-free survival between the HIPEC patient group and the control group. [Data=Yonsei Medical Center]

The research team compared the prognosis of patients who received HIPEC treatment with those who did not to investigate the effect of HIPEC treatment on ovarian cancer. First, they studied 123 patients with stage 3 and 4 ovarian cancer who received chemotherapy and surgery at Yonsei Cancer Hospital from 2015 to 2019. Among them, 43 patients underwent the HIPEC procedure.

As a result, the median progression-free survival (the period during which the tumor size did not worsen) in the HIPEC patient group was 23.6 months, which was 7.8 months longer than the control group (15.8 months). The risk of recurrence was about 40% lower in the HIPEC patient group compared to the control group.

Professor Lee Jung-yoon said, “This study demonstrated that HIPEC after tumor removal surgery can improve treatment outcomes for ovarian cancer,” and added, “We will continue to study the effects of HIPEC treatment through multicenter research beyond the single-institution study at Yonsei Cancer Hospital.”

The results of this study were published in the international academic journal 'Frontiers in Oncology.'

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.