A woman in Illinois has become the first to undergo a unique cancer treatment that allows chemotherapy drugs to be delivered directly to the liver, reducing side-effects.

Chemotherapy drugs can shrink cancer tumors, but if administered generally can affect many other organs and tissues in the body. Via a Hepzato Kit, however, oncologists were able to isolate the supply of blood to her liver, and infuse the drugs directly to the tumor site.

Detailed in a news release by Northwestern University, the woman, 66-year-old Bozena Wojtach, was diagnosed with uveal melanoma last year after her optometrist identified a mass behind her right eye that was causing light flashes in her vision.

Uveal melanoma is a rare kind of eye cancer which typically metastasizes in the liver via tumors which can’t be removed surgically. Between 1975 and 2020, just 5,563 cases of the cancer were reported in the US.

On April 3rd, the Polish immigrant, pilot, retired nurse, and mother of two sons, is now the first to undergo Hepzato Kit treatment at Northwestern Medicine.

“This type of therapy has been shown to prolong survival for patients while also offering a very tolerable side effect profile, which are two things we want to prioritize,” Dr. Sunandana Chandra, medical director for melanoma and cutaneous oncology with the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at the university hospital, said in a news release.

“It’s especially meaningful to have a therapy that helps us maintain a good quality of life for patients as we navigate a cancer that can be quite challenging to treat.”

Through a series of tubes, the blood supply to the liver is isolated from the rest of the body while chemotherapy drugs are administered for half-an-hour, after which the blood supply is filtered. This means that 80% of the drugs can be removed, preventing them from wrecking havoc on neighboring tissues.

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Wojtach, who during her career as a nurse in Chicago, cared for the infirm that included oncology patients, had her tumors reduced in size by 50% after just two courses. Her oncology team, which included another Polish-American Dr. Robert Lewandowski (not to be confused with the famous striker of Bayern Munich and Barcelona) has recommended another 4 courses.

But the benefits are already tangible.

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“I have energy. I have no pain. I don’t have any nausea or vomiting like other patient has,” said Wojtach. “I feel like I’m healthy—like I have no cancer at all.”

She is looking forward to returning to her garden and traveling more, as well as spending time with her two sons.

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