Hyperthermia

Our cancer doctors use hyperthermia to damage or destroy cancerous tumors using heat.

Hyperthermia (which means “elevated temperature”) destroys cancer cells by raising the tumor temperature to a “high fever” range, similar to the way the body uses fever naturally when combating other conditions.

During a hyperthermia treatment, the cancerous tumor is heated to a temperature between 40 and 45°C (104 -113° F) for a certain period of time. Since cancer cells can’t tolerate high temperatures as well as healthy cells, parts of the cancer cells can become damaged by the heat.

Hyperthermia can be used with radiation therapy, chemotherapy and biotherapy/immunotherapy.

This may be a promising treatment option for patients with advanced or recurrent cancer.

Types of Hyperthermia

The following are two main types of hyperthermia we offer:

• Local Hyperthermia – exposes a small area (e.g., a tumor) to high temperatures.
• Deep Tissue Hyperthermia – provides therapeutic heating to deep-seated tumors that are located more than 3 cm under the skin surface.