Adjuvant Hyperthermia in the Irradiation of Metastatic Tumor Masses Utilizing 2450 MHz Microwaves

Abstract

Clinical interest in hyperthermia as a safe and effective adjuvant to irradiation in cancer therapy continues to heighten. The review of experimental and clinical studies by Overgaard suggests that the optimal thermal enhancement ratio (TER) may be obtained by simultaneous administration of both modalities; however, an improvement in therapeutic ratio (tumor effect vs. skin effect) may be best attained by sequential administration of radiotherapy and hyperthermia and with sessions separated by intervals of three hours or longer. Most clinical studies have either administered the heat shortly before irradiation therapy (Kim et al., Marmor and Hahn, Manning et al.) or immediately after (Bicher et al., Perez et al., Arcangeli et al., and Luk).