Breakthrough cancer treatment could prolong life by bathing just one organ in chemotherapy

• Very first time patients in United kingdom have obtained chemotherapy treatment on only one organ
• U.S study found patients who'd new 'PHP' treatment made it five occasions longer prior to the disease spread in comparison to individuals on standard treatment

By Claire Bates

Released: 09:41 GMT, 12 November 2012

Cancer specialists have praised a 'landmark moment' for treatment after doctors bathed two patients' livers with chemotherapy drugs.

It's the very first time that patients within the United kingdom have obtained the specific chemotherapy treatment on only one organ.

Doctors at Southampton General Hospital who developed the therapy the technique could reduce side-effects by restricting the exposure of healthy tissue towards the drugs.

Chemotherapy drugs kill cancer cells but attack healthy cells too, leading to uncomfortable side-effects (file picture)

What this means is greater doses might be given without leading to harm to the individual.

Dr John Stedman, an advisor interventional radiologist, has carried out the 60-minute treatment on two patients.

The liver was separated using two balloons to divert the circulation beyond the organ.

Following a treatment, referred to as chemosaturation therapy or percutaneous hepatic perfusion (PHP), the bloodstream in the liver was drained in the patient and processed via a filtration machine to lessen toxicity prior to being came back towards the patient through the jugular vein.

Outcomes of research conducted recently in america demonstrated patients who received PHP made it five occasions longer prior to the disease - metastatic melanoma - advanced than individuals who'd standard chemotherapy.

The specific chemo-bath treatment continues to be carried out within the United kingdom the very first time at Southampton General Hospital

Dr Stedman stated: 'To stop a body organ in the body for an hour, soak it inside a high dose of drug after which filter the bloodstream almost completely clean before coming back is really groundbreaking.

'Previously, the outlook for patients particularly struggling with cancer that has spread towards the liver continues to be poor since the aftereffect of standard chemotherapies is restricted through the undesirable damage the drug causes towards the relaxation from the body.'

Dr Stedman, who's charge for pancreatic and hepatobiliary cancer in Southampton, added the treatment may go onto be utilized for several other cancer, including colon, breast and melanoma.

Additionally to studies in america, the strategy has been utilized in Germany, Italia, Ireland and France.