Regional Cancer Therapies

Regional therapies are cancer treatments that deliver high doses of chemotherapy, radiation or medicine directly to a specific organ or body part. They are especially beneficial for adults with advanced, or metastatic, cancers that have spread to organs inside the abdomen.

Regional therapies can also help cancer patients who may not be able to have surgery for their tumors. Treatment plans that include regional therapies are even allowing some patients who were once told their cancer was untreatable to achieve a longer life.

If you have metastatic abdominal cancer, regional therapy may be a treatment option for you. Your doctor can help you understand the different types of regional therapies and which option may be a good fit for you.

Regional cancer therapies involve innovative surgical and minimally invasive approaches. By limiting treatment to the tumor area, these techniques reduce harm to healthy tissue in the rest of the body. Patients usually have fewer side effects with regional therapies (sometimes called organ-directed therapies) than with treatments like intravenous (IV) chemotherapy that must travel throughout the body.

You may benefit from regional therapies if you have intra-abdominal metastases (cancer that has spread inside the abdomen) from:

• Appendix cancer or other tumors of the appendix
• Pseudomyxoma peritonei (a rare tumor that usually starts in the appendix and spreads inside the abdomen)
• Colorectal cancer
• Peritoneal mesothelioma
• Ovarian cancer
• Stomach (gastric) cancer
• Sarcomas
• Liver tumors (primary or metastatic)

You may also benefit from regional therapies if you have:

• In-transit cutaneous or nodal metastases from malignant melanoma
• Unresectable extremity sarcomas (meaning they cannot be removed with surgery)

Besides your type of cancer, other factors can determine if regional therapy is right for you, including:

• Where and how quickly the cancer has spread in your body
• Your tumor type and how likely it is to recur (return)
• Your previous cancer treatments
• Your overall health
• Your treatment goals

In most cases, you can still have regional cancer therapy if you have already had cancer surgery or another cancer treatment.

Appointments: 1-855-702-8222

UChicago Medicine is one of the few hospitals in the country that offers this advanced treatment for adults and children with selected types of metastatic abdominal cancer causing peritoneal carcinomatosis (cancer in the tissue surrounding the abdominal organs). Hyperthermic (or heated) intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is delivered by an expert surgical oncologist at the time of tumor removal (cytoreductive surgery). During HIPEC, surgeons deliver heated chemotherapy inside the abdomen to kill any remaining cancer cells with fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy.

UChicago Medicine is the only hospital in Illinois to offer this powerful treatment for patients with certain metastatic colorectal and bile duct cancers that affect the liver. During hepatic artery infusion (HAI) pump chemotherapy, the surgeon places a wireless pump in the abdomen to deliver high doses of chemotherapy — as much as 300 to 400 times higher than IV chemotherapy — directly to the liver.

PIPAC is a minimally invasive, palliative treatment that can help control symptoms and improve the quality of life for some patients with abdominal cancer. During PIPAC, a surgeon applies a fine “mist” of chemotherapy directly inside the abdomen. PIPAC is only available at select academic medical centers like UChicago Medicine.

Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) injection is an FDA-approved, outpatient treatment is for advanced in-transit or not surgically resectable melanoma of the skin or lymph nodes. Over the course of six months or more, a doctor repeatedly injects a tumor with a drug that uses a genetically modified virus to stimulate the patient’s own immune system to destroy cancer cells without harming healthy cells.

UChicago Medicine is among a select group of hospitals to offer isolated limb perfusion (ILI) for certain melanomas and sarcomas (bone and soft tissue cancers) in an arm or leg that cannot be removed with surgery. During this innovative treatment, a surgical oncologist delivers high doses of chemotherapy through a catheter (small tube) to the affected limb. At the same time, blood flow is temporarily restricted in the area to keep the chemotherapy near the tumor. 

During transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), chemotherapy drugs are delivered directly to a liver tumor through an artery. At the same time, substances are placed in the artery to reduce blood flow to the tumor. This approach is often used to treat liver cancer or other types of cancer that have spread to the liver.

Transarterial radioembolization (TARE) can help patients with some types of liver cancer or other types of cancer that has spread to the liver. In TARE, an interventional radiologist threads a thin tube through an artery to send radiation directly to a liver tumor. It has fewer side effects than chemoembolization.

This outpatient treatment for liver, lung, kidney, soft tissue, bone and spine tumors involves burning or freezing away tumor tissue. During the procedure, an interventional radiologist guides a needle into a tumor using imaging guidance. Then, they deliver cold or hot energy to burn away the tumor.

This nonthermal type of ablation allows interventional radiologists to treat tumors close to critical blood vessels or structures for patients with cancers of the liver, bile duct, soft tissue or kidney.

UChicago Medicine is the first hospital in Illinois to offer this non-invasive treatment for liver tumors. During histotripsy, an interventional radiologist uses a robotic machine to destroy tumors with sound waves — without needles.