Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) treatment at Miami Children's Hospital

A medical team at Miami Children's Hospital performed the region's first hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) or "heated chemotherapy" surgical treatment on a pediatric patient on September 30, 2011, offering the child and family renewed hope after other treatment options were exhausted.

The patient, 8-year-old Kelly of Miami, is doing well following the treatment, which involves introducing heated chemotherapy directly into the child's abdomen immediately after removing the tumor tissue. This treatment helps destroy tiny cancer cells that may linger following the removal of the tumor, and inhibit tumor re-growth.

Kelly has been in the care of Miami Children's since 2006 and has undergone a series of treatments for a recurrent form of cancer in her abdomen (rhabdomyosarcoma). Concerned about her prognosis, the child's oncologists attempted to send Kelly to The University of Texas MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital in Houston, where the HIPEC procedure was pioneered.

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