October 2025

ONCOLOGY

NEW TREATMENT FOR ADVANCED EYE CANCER

Featuring: Sunandana Chandra, MD, and Robert J. Lewandowski, MD

​For the first time at Northwestern Medicine, doctors have successfully treated a patient with uveal melanoma using Hepzato Kit, an FDA-approved therapy that delivers chemotherapy directly to the liver.  Uveal melanoma is rare, accounting for about 5% of all melanoma cases in the U.S. Up to half of all patients with the eye cancer will develop metastatic disease, which can be life-threatening.
 
“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,” says Sunandana Chandra, MD, medical director for melanoma and cutaneous oncology with the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “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.”
 
Treatment
In April , 66-year-old Bozena Wojtach became the first patient at Northwestern Medicine to receive the new treatment. During the procedure, interventional radiologists use several small tubes to isolate the liver’s blood supply from the rest of the body before chemotherapy is directly administered to the liver for about 30 minutes. Once the chemotherapy is finished, the separated blood supply in the liver is filtered for an additional half hour before being returned to the patient’s body.
 
“This process removes more than 80% of the chemotherapy drug, significantly reducing the amount of chemotherapy that reaches other parts of the body,” says ​Robert Lewandowski, MD, director of interventional oncology at the Lurie Cancer Center at Northwestern Medicine. “While systemic chemotherapy targets widespread disease, this therapy is more effective for patients with the majority of their disease localized to the liver, as it minimizes overall toxicity.”
​
In 2024, Wojtach began noticing flashing lights in her vision, which prompted a visit to her local optometrist. There, she learned that a mass had developed in her right eye and was referred to Northwestern Medicine ophthalmologist Randy Christopher Bowen, MD, who diagnosed her with uveal melanoma. While proton therapy was successful at treating her eye tumor, scans later revealed the cancer had spread to her liver, which is the most common site of spread for patients with uveal melanoma.
 
Fortunately, the tumors affected less than half of her liver, making Wojtach a candidate for Hepzato Kit. Patients may receive up to six cycles of therapy, with treatment administered every six to eight weeks. However, after just two cycles, Wojtach’s tumors were reduced by more than 50 percent.
 
“It has taken a big commitment from the health system and a significant team effort to bring this new therapy to patients,” says Dr. Lewandowski. “With collaboration from interventional radiology, medical oncology, anesthesia, perfusion and many others, we are excited to provide new hope for patients who otherwise have limited options.”
Sunandana Chandra, MD, Associate Professor of Hematology and Oncology
Robert J. Lewandowski, MD, Professor of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Hematology and Oncology, and Surgery

Refer a Patient

Northwestern Medicine welcomes the opportunity to partner with you in caring for your patients. 

You May Also Like