Interstitial hyperthermia—applying heat with probes inserted into the tumor—has been used for some tumors in the head and neck, breast, pelvis (such as cervix and prostate cancer) and skin or soft tissues. There is also now a lot of interest in using interstitial hyperthermia and radiation for brain tumors.
New Directions Many exciting areas of investigation could make clinical hyperthermia much more useful in the near future. Studies are in progress to find out just how much hyperthermia is needed to improve the results of radiation treatment. Several methods may soon be available to help predict a tumor's response to hyperthermia based on small samples of the cancerous cells .
It may also soon be possible to improve results by manipulating the flow of blood to the tumor or by manipulating its sensitivity to heat. Computer-based treatment planning, incorporating knowledge of blood flow in tumors and normal tissue, could be used for more effective hyperthermia treatment planning.
Some investigators have reported exciting preliminary results using continuous heating over many hours simultaneous with interstitial hyperthermia. This long-duration hyperthermia may be much more effective than standard one-hour hyperthermia sessions by continually sensitizing tumor cells to the radiation and by allowing accumulation of a greater "heat dose" over time.
Although many tumors are unfortunately still difficult to heat with available devices, great improvements are being made in technology and treatment techniques that will allow hyperthermia to be applied to many more tumors.
