Heat Therapy Used to Shrink Breast Cancer Tumors

Heat therapy used to treat breast cancer combined with traditional chemotherapy can increase the treatment's effectiveness according to research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The study indicated that large tumors that were treated with both chemotherapy and heat therapy shrunk 50 percent more than tumors that received only traditional chemotherapy.

The heat therapy technology, which is derived from microwave technology that was developed at MIT in the 1980's for possible use in detecting missiles, has been appropriated as a possible treatement for breast cancer. Dr. Alan J. Fenn began researching the technology in 1990 and adapting it for medical use.

"It appears that heating the tumors drastically increased the effectiveness of the chemotherapy," said Dr. William C. Dooley, director of surgical oncology at the University of Oklahoma and the principal investigator of the study. "The tumors shrank faster and died faster using the additional microwave hyperthermia on top of the chemotherapy."

In this fourth clinical trail, fifteen people were selected to receive two heat therapy treatments. These treatments, called thermotherapy by researchers, was combined with four rounds of chemotherapy. Then doctor's continued with removing the remaining lump using a lumpectomy, rather than a mastectomy. Out of the fifteen patients, fourteen of the patient's tumors shrunk enough to have the lumpectomy.

The thermotherapy is composed of microwaves that run through two applicators near the breast. The thermotherapy kills the cancerous tissue of the tumor but ignores normal breast tissue. When the thermotherapy hits the tumor, the water within the cells vibrate and generate heat. This causes enough heat within the cell to kill most of the tumor.

"The treatment is well tolerated," said Dr. Mary Beth Tomaselli, medical director at Comprehensive Breast Center in Coral Springs, Fla., who was also a co-investigator in the study. "The patients who have gone through it had minimal side effects and positive results."

Because no cells remain at the edge of the lumpectomy incision, addition surgery and radiation therapy will most likely not be required. Radiation therapy is often recommended if it appears that cancer has extended past the lumpectomy line.

Other clinical trials examining this technology have met with success, so the research team is applying for the right to do additional clinical trails with the FDA and Health Canada.

"The patients who have the best results in cancer treatment, at least with breast cancer, are patients who have a sequence of different therapies, including chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, and hormones," said Dr. Hernan I. Vargas, lead author of the study. "Each one of the treatments adds a little bit. The thermotherapy might be one more tool that helps us fight this disease."

Source:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "MIT radar technology fights breast cancer", Eurekalert