What is on the Horizon for Hyperthermic Cancer Therapy?

Abstract

Cancer is a complex disease. Malignancy can often obscure the localization of the original tumor, which can mislead the patient and clinicians. Cancer means that the tumor is not benign; rather, it is malignant and thus systemic, even when dissemination or micro-metastases have not been discovered yet. Conventional hyperthermia induces tumor cell necrosis, but with isothermal heating and poor depth selection, it has multiple drawbacks. The new trend is mild hyperthermia, with support from complementary treatments. Furthermore, the trend for loco-regional treatment is developing toward immune modulation, especially toward tumor-specific immune reactions. Our objective is to present a review and discuss the trends regarding hyperthermia in oncology.