Victory Over Cancer:
Hyperthermia for Cancer

Is it possible to "cook" cancer into oblivion? Exciting new evidence indicates that this is sometimes a possibility! Cancer cells are much more sensitive to heat than are most normal cells of the body. Tumors need a blood supply, nutrients, and a normal body temperature if they are to thrive. When they are subjected to temperatures well above normal, in the 108 to 113 degree Fahrenheit range, they often die very rapidly. Achieving this potentially therapeutic body temperature for an adequate duration of time poses some safety problems. Our normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees, and fevers above 105 degrees are often dangerous. High temperatures may cause seizures since brain cells, like cancer cells, are sensitive to heat. How can this problem be overcome? There are several techniques now in use which help us to more safely use hyperthermia in cancer treatment.

The greatest recent advances in the field have come from new techniques that focus heating in a certain small area of the body. These devices are used to treat individual tumors or groups of tumors that are within a certain area. Depending upon the depth within the body, various modalities are utilized. For tumors on the surface of the skin or just below the surface, microwave heating may be utilized. Microwave is thought to be useful when tumors are at or near the surface of the body and not at a depth of more than 3 cm. Microwaves dissipate rapidly within the tissues of the body and are therefore unable to cause and adequate heating of malignant tissue that are located deep within the body. Tumors located to a depth of 8cm may be more amenable to treatment with ultrasound hyperthermia units. Sound waves are able to penetrate more deeply into the body. Another interesting fact about ultrasound hyperthermia is the ability of the technicians to focus the heat to a well-defined spot within the tissue to be treated. Therefore over-heating of adjacent non-malignant area can often be avoided. IRF, (Interstitial Radio Frequency) units employ the use of needles which are embedded into a tumor. The IRF unit then heats the needles, producing a targeted hyperthermia effect.

Whole body hyperthermia involves heating the patient to the maximum safe and tolerated level. Potential advantages of such a systemic and thorough hyperthermia include 1) there may be a general detoxification benefit and 2) there may be a greater likelihood of producing an effect against malignancy that is not found within the known tumors. Cancer is rarely confined to limited areas such as specific tumors. If it were, surgery would be curative if the tumors were removed. Unfortunately, this happens infrequently in most malignancies, since cancer cells often are present in areas other than known tumors. Whole body hyperthermia is most often induced via placing the patient in a sauna or whirlpool unit to employ the high specific heat of water to heat the body gradually and thoroughly. Some alternative therapies produce generalized fever. One of these is Iscador, the mistletoe extract. Proponents of mistletoe and related alternative modalities believe that at least a portion of the effect observed from these treatments derives from the increased whole body temperatures which occur.

It is interesting to note that hyperthermia was first seriously considered in modern cancer care after the observation, in the 1880's, that cancer patients who were subjected to high prolonged fever sometimes went into remission. This was observed in several febrile illnesses including poisonous spider bites and bacterial infections. A very famous old cancer therapy called BCG may, in part at least, produce an anti-cancer effect via the bacterial fever mechanism. Upon its introduction into medical practice, BCG was observed to produce meaningful medical benefits to cancer patients, and later became an approved medical treatment in the United States. BCG is now an FDA approved medicine based on a discovery many decades ago that this bacterial extract can induce a fever and sometimes lead to complete or partial cancer remissions. BCG today is utilized extensively in alternative medicine, as well as in conventional medicine for the treatment of bladder cancer.

Hyperthermia is truly a promising therapy option for the treatment of malignancy. It is expected that further research and more extensive experience by physicians utilizing hyperthermia will result in ever improving methods of using hyperthermia effectively and safely. It is crucial to note that the main drawback of whole body hyperthermia is that life is threatened at high temperatures. The brain, heart, and other crucial organs may be overwhelmed by the demands placed upon them by the abnormally elevated body temperatures. As is true with many therapies, proper monitoring by a qualified healthcare professional is wise.