When physicians prescribe systemic chemotherapy, they need to strike a careful balance: the dose needs be strong enough to kill cancer cells throughout the body but not so strong that it harms healthy tissue and causes severe side effects.
Hepatic artery infusion (HAI) therapy offers a new approach for people whose colorectal cancer has spread to the liver. It allows physicians to deliver chemotherapy directly to the liver at doses up to 400 times higher than standard systemic chemotherapy with fewer side effects. Fred Hutch Cancer Center is the only place in Washington state and one of only two in the Pacific Northwest to offer HAI therapy.
