Heated chemo after colon cancer

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- A consensus statement by 72 leading oncology surgeons from 14 countries, including the United States, calls for surgery and heated chemotherapy.

The chemotherapy, delivered through the lower abdomen of the patient before leaving the operating room, may significantly increase the life expectancy for patients with Stage IV colorectal cancer, according to the Peritoneal Surface Malignancy Group, which includes doctors from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas; H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla.; Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington; and St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore.

The heated chemotherapy is designed to help reliably attack any residual cancer cells remaining after surgery. The consensus statement: "Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy in the Management of Peritoneal Surface Malignancies of Colonic Origin" appears on the Web site for the Annals of Surgical Oncology.