Doctors at Southampton General Hospital believe targeting just one organ can prevent side effects. They also say it means they can give higher doses without causing damage to the patient.
Two patients in the UK have now received chemotherapy focused on just their liver. Both had a rare eye cancer which had spread to the liver.
The operation works by inflating balloons inside blood vessels on either side of the liver to isolate it from the rest of the body. The liver is then pumped full of chemotherapy drugs, which are filtered out before the liver is reconnected to the main blood supply. It means only a tiny fraction of the chemotherapy dose ends up in the body.
Dr Stedman told the BBC: "In 20 years' time the idea of injecting a drug which poisons the whole body for a cancer in just one small area will seem bonkers."
He suggested that any organ which could be easily separated from the blood supply, such as the kidney, pancreas and lungs, would be suitable for this kind of approach. The technique is also being tested in the US and elsewhere in Europe.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-20270400
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