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Vadim Gushchin, M.D., Director, GI Oncology, Institute for Cancer Care

Mercy's Dr. Vadim Gushchin, Institute for Cancer Care, Performs Isolated Limb Infusion (ILI)

Mercy One of the Few Centers in the Nation to Offer State-of-the-Art Treatment

The first Isolated Limb Infusion (ILI) was performed at the Institute for Cancer Care at Mercy to treat a local and regional recurrence of cutenaeous melanoma of the lower leg. This aggressive tumor not only reappeared at the site of prior radical surgery, but also grew in multiple nodules along the lymphatic channels and nodes of the leg (the so-called "melanoma in-transit"). There is no effective chemotherapy that can prevent this tumor from growing and eventually becoming large, non-healing wounds with bleeding craters and repeated infections. In the past, one of the most effective strategies for treatment in such cases involved surgically inserting large catheters in the main vessel of the leg and perfusing high dose chemotherapy using a heart-lung machine. Today, Isolated Limb Infusion or ILI, a minimally invasive technique that uses the same principle of regional high dose chemotherapy but through smaller catheters (cardiologists use similar catheters to study vessels of the heart) is the state of the art treatment for patients with locally recurrent melanoma and some other malignances. A majority of patients have a durable response. For many, this treatment is the only option to avoid amputation. ILI requires cooperation between multiple services: surgical oncology, interventional radiology, operating room, anesthesia, pharmacy and others to administer this treatment safely and effectively. The Institute for Cancer Care at Mercy is one of the few oncology centers in the region and the country to offer this sophisticated treatment for patients with advanced melanoma, sarcoma and some other tumors of the extremities.

--Vadim Gushchin, M.D., Director of GI Oncology, Mercy Medical Center