The term hyperthermia is used in the medical literature to indicate a state of higher temperature compared to the normal body temperature. Previous research has evaluated the effectiveness of hyperthermia in the treatment of cancer. It has been shown that hyperthermia may make radiation therapy more effective. However previous clinical trials only yielded mixed results. The major hurdle in using hyperthermia for the treatment of cancer have been the difficulty in providing high enough temperature for the tumor without causing undue adverse effects for the rest of the body. Improvement in technology has made it possible to provide hyperthermia locally without causing significant damage to the rest of the body.
Duke University has recently conducted a study in which the effectiveness of hyperthermia in combination with radiation has been tested. In this trial 21 woman with locally advanced breast cancer were treated with a combination of radiation therapy and hyperthermia. The hyperthermia was delivered using a special pool of water warmed by heat waves.
Most of the woman who had combination of radiation therapy and hyperthermia had significant reduction in the size of their tumor. At least in some women tumor decreased to such an extent that a lumpectomy was possible. And the surprising fact was that women who had combination of heat therapy and radiation therapy in fact actually experienced lesser side effects than that would be expected with the standard radiation therapy alone. |
