PRESSURISED INTRAPERITONEAL AEROSOL CHEMOTHERAPY (PIPAC)

June 15, 2019

According to doctors, chemotherapy by aerosol, although still being tested, has shown promising results against certain cancers with fewer side effects.

About:

Technique: Under PIPAC, the drugs are not injected into the bloodstream. Instead, the patient is put under general anaesthetic and treatment is introduced by laparoscopy and chemotherapy is introduced into the peritoneal cavity by an aerosol spray.
Benefits:
- It is a minimally invasive without harmful side effects normally “associated with the circulation of the treatment within the blood”.
- The price of the treatment is reasonable, with the injector device costing around €25,000, and each operation using disposable materials worth some €2,000.
Present status:
- Several hospitals in France are trialling pressurised intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy (PIPAC), a technique developed in Germany in 2013.
- For the moment, PIPAC therapy is only offered to patients undergoing palliative treatment, as its efficacy has yet to be demonstrated in a large scientific study.