Hyperthermia therapy device was developed and now being effective in combination with radiation and chemotherapy of Korea
Pregnant women and patients with joint surgery should be careful… Prevent side effects by consulting your doctor before treatment
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Experts say that cancer treatment can be maximized when various treatments of radiation, chemotherapy and hyperthermia therapy are all combined. Photo shows a patient undergoing heat therapy. (Photo from AdipoLABs)
Human body temperature is normally 36.5 degree Celcius and the internal body temperature with internal organs is normally ideal around 37 degrees. The skin's surface temperature is around 34-35 degrees which is slightly lower than the body temperature. Our body is heavily influenced by deep internal body temperature. Even if the core body temperature rises or decreases by only 0.5 to 1 degree, our body experiences changes with the activity of releasing, converting and storing energy.
If the core body temperature rises by 1 degree, the basal metabolic rate is known to increase by 15%. On the contrary, when the body temperature decreases, blood circulation does not work properly, and the oxygen, nutrients, and immune substances carried by the blood are not properly transported to various parts of the body. Therefore, the balance in the body is broken and our body is easy to be exposed to various diseases.
As said, deep body temperature plays an important role in improving body's immunity. In particular, cancer patients often have a lower body temperature than the normal beings because cancer cells like a cold environment and tend to make our body colder somehow. From this, it can be concluded that cancer cells are weak in heat and they dislike heat.
The fact that cancer cells dislike fever was discovered at the end of the 19th century. In addition, in patients with epidemics suffering from high fever for a long time, sarcomas were being treated or alleviated, and many experiments suggested that heating the body may cure tumors or cancer cells. Heat therapy has been used in conjunction with chemotherapy or radiation therapy as an adjuvant method for cancer treatment using this principle. Hyperthermia treatment method is now introduced based on the contents of the 'Effect of Hyperthermia and Case Report' seminar held at COEX on March 15th in 2019.
◇ Principle of high frequency hyperthermia therapy
In Korea, since the late 1980s, hyperthermia has been performed for the purpose of treating tumors. Hyperthermia or heat therapy is a treatment that removes cancer cells by heating cancer tissue. When heat is applied, the blood vessels inside the cancerous tissue cannot be expanded and the temperature rises while the blood flow decreases. Cancer cells are necrotic as the blood vessels expand without heat dissipation. On the other hand, when heat is applied to normal tissues, blood vessels expand, and the heat gets dissipated so that blood vessels return to normal over time.
When we first discovered the principle of heat therapy or hyperthermia, it was difficult to transmit heat effectively to tumors deep in the body, so the effect was limited, and it only increased the immunity. However, since then, specialized thermal therapy devices have been developed in Europe, such as Germany, to deliver heat deep into the body. Since 2007, devices have been used for treatment of liver cancer, stomach cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer and so on in major domestic hospitals and overseas cancer centers.
It takes about 20 minutes to an hour for a patient to receive one heat treatment. Remove worn metals such as necklaces and earrings, and lie down on a thermal bed for treatment. There is little irritation on the outside of the skin, and the patients will feel the heat gradually rising from the inside.
After the procedure, computerized tomography (CT) is done to confirm that the tumor has been burned sufficiently. Computerized tomography results will also determine whether additional treatment should be provided or not. In addition, sudden movement after the procedure may cause blood circulation to be unstable, so it is recommended to get up and move your body slowly after the treatment. Few patients may have minor pain or fever after the procedure.
Kang Young-nam, professor of Catholic University Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, said, “The heat is transmitted after setting the size, location, and target of the tumor. Professor Kang also said, "Multiple studies have shown higher survival rates when heat therapies are combined with radiation therapy."
Professor Choi Il-bong, chairman of the Korean Society for Thermal Medicine, said, “Hyperthermia has the effect of strengthening immunity in cancer patients. Improving immunity can help prevent cancer from spreading or recurring, and shrinking tumors can increase patient survival,"
◇ Example of high frequency hyperthermia therapy
To this date, many patients have had at least either no progress of tumor or improved symptoms because of combined treatment with high-frequency hyperthermia therapy. Jujong Chun, Professor of Oriental Medicine at Wonkwang University said. "In patients with liver cancer found in two places, hyperthermia treatment was performed seven times, and we could have detected tumor size was reduced. After eighteen times of hyperthermia treatment, we could have seen definite improvement in symptoms. Liver cancer is one of those cancers that has a very poor prognosis and is hard to be treated. The result showed that hyperthermia is a well managed, a reliable method of treatment. In addition, many patients have been shown to be effective in reducing cancer size, fatigue, and anorexia through treatment. It's a new alternative for those cancer patients at final stages with no option of surgery.
However, pregnant women, patients with severe inflammation, patients with ascites, patients recovering from bone marrow transplantation, patients with large metals such as artificial joint surgery are the ones who must notify the doctor of the situation before receiving high frequency hyperthermia therapy.
In some cases, patients with side effects are also observed. Red spots may appear around the skin after heat treatment. Inflammation, burns, or cuts may appear on skin areas of high fat. In particular, direct exposure to the eyes can cause injury, so the patients should not receive heat treatment around the eyes.
Kang Young-nam, a professor at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, said, “The biggest drawback is that we can't read the temperature inside while we are conducting hyperthermia therapy. In addition, there are many limitations in the experiment because it is necessary to check the response and temperature changes of blood vessels during the heat treatment. Despite of a few limitations, I think hyperthermia will continue to be developed and contribute heavily to the treatment of patients' cancers in near future."
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