Abstract
While radiation typically induces death via damage to DNA, heat is believed to induce cell death through denaturation and aggregation of proteins. Hyperthermia may be effective at killing radio-resistant tumor cells, including S-phase, non-dividing, hypoxic, or poorly vascularized cells. When combined with radiation, there may be a synergistic effect through vasodilation (reducing hypoxia) and inhibition of DNA repair. After a heat dose, thermotolerance may develop due to expression of heat shock proteins. There are several methods to deliver heat to a tumor, but accurate dosing and monitoring of tumor temperatures has historically been problematic.
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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Chang, D.S., Lasley, F.D., Das, I.J., Mendonca, M.S., Dynlacht, J.R. (2014). Hyperthermia. In: Basic Radiotherapy Physics and Biology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06841-1_30
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06841-1_30
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