RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey First in State Offering Novel Form of Liver Cancer Treatment

Brett L. Ecker, MD

Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the state's only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, together with RWJBarnabas Health, has joined a select number of institutions nationwide that offer a specialized chemotherapy delivery system called hepatic artery infusion (HAI) therapy for patients with liver tumors. Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health Facility, is the first in the state of New Jersey to offer this cutting-edge therapy.

HAI employs a palm-sized pump that is implanted below the skin in the abdomen. Utilizing this precision-based approach enables medical professionals to deliver potent doses of chemotherapy directly to the liver, allowing for a higher drug concentration in the tumor area. After treating the tumor(s), the liver efficiently clears the drug, mitigating the systemic side effects that may be associated with conventional chemotherapy. Individuals receiving HAI therapy are able to continue their normal daily activities with minimal disruption to their lives.

“With HAI, we’re able to deliver chemotherapy directly to the cancer cells in the liver, and when combined with traditional chemotherapy, we believe we can significantly increase patients’ chance of survival,” notes Brett L. Ecker, MD, surgical oncologist and member of RWJBarnabas Health Medical Group and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey's Division of Surgical Oncology. "Most importantly, HAI provides the potential for curative therapy for patients who did not previously have those options before."

Both primary and metastatic liver cancer can be treated with HAI therapy. Specifically, it is used for conditions like cholangiocarcinoma, a primary liver tumor, as well as metastatic tumors –such as those originating from colon or rectal cancer. HAI therapy is also used for adjuvant therapy where it may reduce the likelihood of cancer recurrence.

“HAI therapy requires significant expertise and seamless coordination from a multidisciplinary, skilled care team including surgeons, medical oncologists, and interventional radiologists,” notes Russell Langan, MD, FACS, FSSO, associate chief surgical officer, system integration and quality and director of surgical oncology, Northern Region, RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute. “As a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, we are able to provide innovative therapies and sophisticated procedures not available elsewhere,” adds Langan, who is also chief of Surgical Oncology and Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center.

Experts from RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute are supportive of the national clinical trial aimed at examining the role of HAI in treating colon or rectal cancer with liver metastases. The pump will be tested in patients with extensive liver tumors that cannot be surgically removed, where the pump will be combined with intravenous chemotherapy to shrink the tumors.