Is hyperthermia used alone to treat cancer?

Almost never. The National Cancer Institute says hyperthermia is almost always used with other cancer treatments. Its job is to make radiation and chemotherapy work better. It is not a stand-in for them.

Hyperthermia is also called thermal therapy or thermotherapy. It heats tissue to as high as 113 °F to damage and kill cancer cells, with little or no harm to normal tissue. The heat can come from microwave probes, radio waves, lasers, or ultrasound. It can also come from heated fluids pumped into the body, or from a heated chamber, a hot water bath, or warmed blankets.

Why it works as a partner, not a soloist

Many clinical trials have tested heat added to radiation or chemotherapy. Those trials show it helps shrink tumors. It may also make those treatments better at killing cancer cells.

Notice what that finding does not say. It is a claim about the pairing, not about heat on its own. NCI is direct about the gap. It is not clear whether hyperthermia helps people live longer. That is why it is still studied in trials rather than being routine care.

Three scales of heat

Local hyperthermia treats a small area. There are three kinds.

• External heating treats tumors on or just under the skin. Devices are placed around or near the spot.
• Intraluminal heating treats tumors in or near a body cavity, such as the esophagus or rectum. Probes go inside the cavity.
• Interstitial heating reaches tumors deep in the body, including the brain. Probes or needles are placed while you are under anesthesia, guided by imaging. This method can heat a tumor hotter than external methods can. Radiofrequency ablation, which uses radio waves, is one form of it.

Regional hyperthermia treats a whole cavity, organ, or limb.

• Deep tissue methods ring an organ with heating devices. They are used for cancers such as cervical or bladder cancer.
• Perfusion takes out some of your blood, heats it, and pumps it back into a limb or organ. Chemotherapy is often given at the same time. It is used for melanoma in an arm or leg, and for some tumors in the liver or lung.
• Heated chemotherapy can be washed through the belly during surgery. That area is brought to 106 to 108 °F.

Whole-body hyperthermia is for cancer that has spread widely. You are placed in a heated chamber or wrapped in hot water blankets. Your body temperature is raised to 107 or 108 °F for short periods.

During treatment your doctor numbs the area and places small probes in the tumor. The probes carry tiny thermometers. That way the tumor and the tissue around it can be watched the whole time. CT scans may be used to check that the probes sit right.

What the heat costs

Most healthy tissue is fine if the temperature stays under 111 °F. But tissues differ, and hot spots happen. Burns, blisters, discomfort, and pain are the result.

Perfusion can cause swelling, blood clots, bleeding, and other tissue damage in the treated area. Most of that gets better after treatment. Whole-body heating often causes diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. Less often it causes heart and blood vessel problems.

Finding it at all

Hyperthermia needs special machines and trained staff. Only a small number of hospitals and cancer centers have both.

Where it is offered, it is generally used for advanced cancers. The list includes appendix, bladder, brain, breast, cervical, esophageal, head and neck, liver, lung, rectal cancer, melanoma, mesothelioma, and sarcoma.

If you want to pursue it, ask your oncologist two things. Is there a center within reach that runs a heat program? And is there an open trial you could join? Most of this treatment still happens inside trials. NCI's Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER can help you search.

Sources

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/hyperthermia