Hyperthermia is the use of heat or cold to kill, weaken or sensitise cancer cells. You can be treated in two quite separate ways:
1. Whole-body hyperthermia where the use of heat has been shown to improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It may kill cancer cells in its own right but research supports its use as a complementary therapy.
2. Localised hyperthermia or Ablation can be used as a minimally-invasive alternative cancer treatment to treat a number of solid cancers instead of surgery or even radiotherapy. Either ’heating’ (Thermal Ablation) or ’freezing’ (Cryoablation) the cancer tumour can be very successful. It has already been used by hospitals in Europe and America to treat prostate cancer, kidney cancer, breast cancer and others. Clinical studies have shown its abilities to treat bone metastases successfully too.
Hyperthermia as an effective alternative cancer treatment?
1. Whole-body hyperthermia
Total body hyperthermia or whole-body hyperthermia as a concept is far from new. It was used by the Greeks and Egyptians. Studies in the 1920s at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center noted that some cancer patients went into remission when they developed a fever, just as the Greeks and Egyptians had said.
Go To: An article on the Background and development of hyperthermia
This led to the controlled use of dead bacteria (Coley’s Toxins) where the induced fever was shown to stimulate defences, while the heat effect killed the cancer cells. The hospital is still using heat in conjunction with chemotherapy in a treatment called HIPEC, hyperthermic intra-peritoneal chemotherapy, where temperatures of 107 degrees are used to presensitise cancer cells to the chemotherapy.
There is research (Van der Zee J. et al, Annals of Oncology 2002, and, Hildebrandt et al, Critical reviews in oncology 2002) that shows the biochemical evidence for the potential of whole-body hyperthermia on its own, but there are newer and important studies on its benefits with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Much is listed on the website of the National Cancer Institute in America. Clearly, whole body hyperthermia improves outcomes of chemotherapy and radiotherapy by making the cancer cells more sensitive, and more easily killed.
In Australia, cancer expert Dr. John Holt used whole-body Hyperthermia along with glutathione and cysteine to restrict glucose uptake by cancer cells. Hugely successful, he has sadly now retired.
We find localised hyperthermia, or cancer ablation, tumour ablation, or ablatherm much, much more interesting as a minimally invasive alternative cancer treatment. It is clearly an alternative to surgery. Indeed we have been championing it since 2005, despite skeptics and other charities criticising both us and the treatment. Our stance now been totally vindicated.
Cancer ablation uses thermal energy to heat and kill the cancer cells locally. It can also be called Thermal Ablation. Ablation can totally kill small tumours.
Go To: The pioneering hyperthermia work of Dr. John Holt
The National Cancer Institute on its website states that whole-body hyperthermia can kill cancer cells and improve the results of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Clinical trials on both are under way in America. A particular benefit of whole body Hyperthermia is that it can be used to treat metastatic cancer.
Review: Whole-body Hyperthermia kills cancer cells
2. Localised hyperthermia, or cancer ablation
Perhaps the greatest benefit is that where someone has three small lung tumours, they can each be tackled by Tumour Ablation.
Read more: Ablation as an effective alternative to cancer surgery
This methodology is used by American Hospitals such as Johns Hopkins, where a tiny hole (less than 3mm) allows a needle-like probe to be used inside the body. The probe is guided by Computed Tomography (CT) for example into the cancer and the probe is then attached to a generator to heat the cancer. You can think of it as ’melting’, or ’burning’ the cancer away. It is 100% successful for small solid tumours. The patient is often conscious, having only localised anaesthetic.
Treatment can last anything from 30 minutes to two hours depending upon the size and number of the tumours.
One way to heat the probe is using Radio waves as the energy source. It is thus called Radiofrequency Ablation, or RFA.
Another way is via Microwaves - called MicroWave Ablation or MWA.
This methodology has been used as an alternative to surgery in the treatment of lung cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer and even bone cancer. Typically, these will be deemed ’inoperable’ or ’hard to treat’, so surgeons don’t feel threatened by the new technology! Now all cancers are potential targets - for example, pancreatic, bladder and breast.
2.2. Tumour ablation via a heated needle
In Europe, private clinics like Klinik St Georg in Germany use this system to treat prostate cancer. Positioned in the centre of the prostate, just two sessions in 5 days kills the tumour. They claim a 100 per cent success rate, but only 75 per cent if the patient has had a biopsy.
Professor Andy Adam at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, uses it on kidney tumours. The technique is only used when surgery cannot be used, since in wonderful "catch 22" fashion, there are quite large numbers of kidney surgeries and hence good data on survival rates, but a far lesser knowledge of survival rates for ablation. Go figure!
The temperature can also be controlled. At a temperature, usually around 106 - 107 degrees (but sometimes as high as 113 degrees) cancer cells die, but there is no harm done to surrounding healthy tissue.
2.2. High Intensity Focussed Ultrasound
We have been excited about using HIFU with prostate cancer since 2005 and have championed this methodology as an alternative to prostate cancer surgery. In the USA, experts like John Jurige in Louisville is actually administering the treatment not just in the prostate but around it, to mop up cancer cells released by biopsy.
In fact, you can kill the cancer cells by freezing them too. At -40 degrees C cancer cells die. OK. So it’s technically the opposite of hyperthermia! A similar methodology is used for ’cryosurgery’ with a hollow probe passing a freezing liquid or gas into the tumour.
In the UK, there is a private group performing cryoablation - Cancer Ablation UK. They claim on their website to use it for kidney cancer, kung cancer, bone cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer amongst others.
Go to: Prostate cancer and HIFU;
Go to: An exclusive interview on HIFU and prostate cancer with Professor Mark Emberton.
In 2016 HIFU has seen the results of a major research study where bone metastases successfully treatment with ultrasound hyperthermia at the Institute of Cancer Research in the UK. Secondary metastases were ’blasted’ by ultrasound, literally melting all the cancer cells away without harming the healthy cells’. HIFU has now been described by Professor Gail ter Haar at the ICR as a treatment of ’Immense Potential’ for any cancer’. Patients of ours who have contacted the ICR have found they have denied all knowledge of this research.
2.3. Cryoablation
2.4. Using an electrical current
In late 2011 more great news came with a report of three breast cancer studies using Preferential Radiofrequency Ablation at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Over 80 women had been successfully treated using Ablation - this time, a ten minute localised treatment involving the application of electrodes either side of a solid breast cancer tumour, under local anaesthetic. All the women had had no recurrence in the following two years. The Karolinska researchers were ecstatic. ’Women can have the treatment in their lunch time and go back to work’, said one.
Go to: breast cancer and localised hyperthermia.
However, the original three studies seem to have been removed from the Karolinska’s website. One possible explanation is this:
The Nanoknife IRE - Irreversible Electroporation - This technique, rather like the Karolinska’s uses two long needles to go deep inside the body - to treat ’inoperable’ cancers. A current is passed between the needles causing ’nano’ holes in the cancer cell membranes. All then ’leak’ and are destroyed. The ’inoperable cancers’ bit is clearly a ploy. 20 hospitals in the USA are already using the patented treatment - it will not be long before this treatment is used on any solid tumour deep seated or not, and is a real alternative cancer therapy of potential.
Go to: A review of the Nanoknife IRE.