Patients who are being treated for melanoma that has spread to their livers may live longer when chemotherapy is injected directly into the blood vessels of the organ, according to a study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.
During the trial, a team of researchers enrolled more than 90 patients who had been diagnosed with melanoma, the rarest and deadliest form of skin cancer, in hopes to improve their survival rates. For more than three years, the participants received percutaneous hepatic perfusion (PHP), which is chemotherapy treatment directly injected in their livers.
The results of the study showed that the individuals who had received the PHP treatment extended their life expectancy and saw the size of tumors found in the liver were controlled.
This study “not only [showed] an increase in progression-free survival rates for these patients, but also [led] to a [possible] standard of care for the disease,” said James F. Pingpank, an associate professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He added that “this is particularly exciting because so far oncologists havent been able to recommend a standard of care for patients with melanoma that has spread to the liver.”
Last year, approximately 68,720 people were diagnosed with melanoma, and roughly 8,650 of these cases resulted in death, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.