In cancer treatment, new treatments give hope to patients every day. In recent years, chemosaturation treatment has become widespread in our country as well as in the world in the treatment of liver metastases. In the procedure performed by Interventional Radiology Specialist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Utku Mahir Yıldırım at Medicana International Izmir Hospital, only the cancerous area is treated with high-dose chemotherapy called “elephant dose”.
In common liver metastases, chemosaturation treatment has become a frequently used method. In the procedure performed by Interventional Radiology Specialist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Utku Mahir Yıldırım and the expert team at Medicana International Izmir Hospital, spot-on treatment is performed with high-dose chemotherapy to the entire liver.
“Side effects are prevented”
The locally administered chemotherapy drug is cleaned with special filters before it enters the body. With the chemosaturation method, one of the pinpoint cancer treatments, splash foci in the liver are targeted. Radiology Specialist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Utku Mahir Yıldırım said, “Chemosaturation is one of the most curious treatments among cancer treatments in recent years. Our main goal in this treatment is to trap the high dose of chemotherapy drug, which we can describe as “elephant dose”, in the liver and to ensure that the drug penetrates more into tumor cells. This method prevents the high dose of chemotherapy drug administered to the whole liver from going to other organs other than the liver, thus preventing chemotherapy-related side effects in other parts of the body. A more effective chemotherapy is targeted for extensive liver metastases.”
No need for surgical incision
Dr. Mahir Yıldırım explained the chemosaturation treatment applied in the angiography unit as follows: “With a special balloon catheter, the blood coming from the veins in the liver is separated from the body. Then a high dose of chemotherapy drug is administered through the artery of the liver. Chemotherapy is given to the blood going to the liver and the incoming blood is cleaned with filters. This prevents the chemotherapy drug from staying in the body and causing side effects. The procedure takes an average of 2 hours. The patient is hospitalized for 2 nights. If this session is not enough, it can be applied several times at 6-week intervals depending on the condition of the cancerous area.”
FDA Approved
Stating that chemosaturation treatment is a treatment approved by the US Food and Drug Administration FDA, Yıldırım said: “With this method, we get satisfactory results in liver metastases of cancers such as melanoma, breast and colon. The chemosaturation treatment we apply at Medicana International Izmir Hospital requires an absolute teamwork. Accreditation and certification stages are required for the procedure to be performed. By working together and in harmony with anesthesia, interventional radiology and oncology doctors, experienced perfusionists and blood center, we have succeeded in becoming a center in this field in Izmir.”
