Hyperthermia Enhances Radiation Therapy for Cervical Cancer

A hyperthermia system has been shown to be a powerful component in more-effective cancer therapy, including radiation therapy for cervical cancer.

A phase III clinical trial has demonstrated that when hyperthermia was added to radiation in treating advanced cervical cancer, complete tumor response jumped from 57% for the patient control group receiving radiation alone to 83% for those receiving both radiation and hyperthermia. In the same study, the three-year survival rate nearly doubled for those patients who received both radiation and hyperthermia.

The hyperthermia system used in the trial was the BSD-2000, which delivers microwave energy to cancerous tumors, including those located deep within the body, such as gynecologic cancers. During treatment, the patient is placed in a prone position on a specially designed support, and an applicator containing an array of microwave antennae is place around the patient's body. The BSD then focuses and delivers microwave energy on the tumor using a model provided through treatment planning and system software that precisely steers microwave energy on the target. Hyperthermia therapy both kills cancer cells directly and oxygenates cancerous tumors so that radiation beams can more effectively form the oxygen radicals required to attack and destroy cancer cell DNA.

The BSD-2000 is the product of BSD Medical Corp. (Salt Lake City, UT, USA). The company has just announced the installation of a new BSD-2000 hyperthermia system at the Bad Trissl Clinic in Oberaudorf (Germany), which specializes in the treatment of gynecologic cancer.




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