Focused action against the tumor: maintaining quality of life in cervical cancer
Regional chemotherapy is a highly effective method for treating malignant cancers, with significantly fewer side effects compared to standard chemotherapy or radiation therapy. It can also be used for cervical cancer.
Infection of the cervix by certain types of the human papillomavirus (HPV) can, if left untreated, lead to cervical cancer. The insidious thing about it is that in its early stages, cervical cancer and its precursors are asymptomatic.
Effective early detection, which is a free preventative service for women from the age of 20 and is combined with a Pap smear for women from the age of 35, has led to a decline in the incidence of cervical cancer in recent years. Nevertheless, there is no reason to let our guard down: With approximately 500,000 new cases worldwide each year, cervical cancer is still one of the most common cancers among women.
Common treatment options include radical surgery, systemic chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. However, these are often associated with significant complications, mostly due to local radiation damage. Because these therapies have a systemic effect, meaning they affect not only the tumor cells but the entire organism. The disadvantage: Healthy body cells are also attacked, which can lead to typical side effects, including vaginal dryness, ureteral obstruction, or radiation damage to the vaginal, bladder, and/or colonic wall.
Targeted therapy with few side effects
At the Medias Clinic in Burghausen, they specialize in a treatment option with significantly fewer side effects: regional chemotherapy. In this approach, the tumor is treated exclusively locally; the chemotherapeutic agents do not reach the entire body. Compared to systemic chemotherapy, this allows for considerably higher concentrations of the drug at the tumor and in its surrounding tissue. The major advantage: the therapy is better tolerated, and quality of life is maintained, with only minor or no side effects.
The principle of regional chemotherapy can be applied to many types of cancer. In the case of cervical cancer, regional chemotherapy is often performed in the form of isolated pelvic perfusion. In this isolated circuit, a highly concentrated dose of medication is administered directly to the tumor for a certain period of time. The cytostatic drugs are then filtered out of the body via the perfusion catheters to prevent any active substances from reaching other parts of the body.
“By treating only the region affected by the tumor, we are able to maximize the therapeutic effect and minimize side effects,” says Prof. Dr. Karl Reinhard Aigner, Medical Director and Chief Physician at Medias Clinic. “We have been successfully using this procedure for years in various indications, including head and neck tumors, pancreatic cancer, and carcinomas of the ovaries, liver, and lungs.”
Study details: Aigner KR et al. Tumor response and the quality of life after isolated hypoxic pelvic perfusion for advanced G3 cervical cancer: A case series. International Journal of Surgery Case Reports (IJSCR 77 2020; 816-821), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijscr.2020.11.050.