Clinical hyperthermia is one of the treatment modalities in oncology. It can be categorized as Whole Body Hyperthermia and Loco-Regional Hyperthermia.
Several physical principles are currently in use in order to achieve the necessary therapeutic conditions. All
methods developed are non-toxic and can be directly integrated to personalized schemes for treating cancer.
ICHS is a technology-neutral scientific society. The mission of ICHS is to promote innovative ideas without technological discrimination and make steps forward to reach the goal of the “National Cancer Act” of the USA and the world: provide effective and minimally toxic, personalized curative treatments and stop the suffering of the patients by improving quality of life.
About International Clinical Hyperthermia Society
The Society was organized to provide a forum for members to discuss their ideas on the use of hyperthermia and present their clinical experience at meetings.
The Society is open to professionals in various specialties working in clinical hyperthermia for the treatment of malignant neoplasm, who hold full-time appointments to the staff of hospitals accredited by the JCAH or corresponding body in countries outside of the USA. Active members include surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists (including basic scientists), nurses and administrators. Manufacturers and suppliers of clinical hyperthermia equipment are eligible for associate membership.
ICHS members hold an international annual meeting, in different countries each year.
What is Hyperthermia Cancer Treatment?
Hyperthermia is heat-therapy, applied locally or systemically to eliminate the malignant lesions in the body. Hyperthermia is usually used complementary to all conventional treatments, mostly with chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, but nowadays the gene-therapies, the antibody therapies and the check-point inhibitors are also combined with the hyperthermia treatment.
Hyperthermia is a non-invasive therapy (or sometimes minimally invasive) to treat all types of solid malignant tumors.
The action of hyperthermia has various valuable physiologic effects, helping to make cancer cells more vulnerable to the effects of a large number of conventional therapies.
There are many factors showing the validity of this assumption, but the breakthrough to accept the hyperthermia method widely hasn’t been reached in the long historic period. The appropriate temperature is selectively administered in the tumor still cannot be reached. This fact forms a lot of questions in the published literature:
Is the community of radiation oncologist ready for clinical hyperthermia? [1];
What happened to hyperthermia and what is its current status in cancer treatment? [2];
Where there’s smoke, is there fire? [3],
Should interstitial thermometry be used for deep hyperthermia? [4];
If we can’t define the quality, can we assure it? [5].
Is there a future for hyperthermia in cancer treatment? [6],
What is against the acceptance of hyperthermia? [7];
Progress in hyperthermia? [8];
Prostate cancer: hot, but hot enough? [9];
Is heating the patient a promising approach? [10],
Hyperthermia: has its time come? [11].
The efforts to make the feasibility of the method clear are enormous. The same double-faced behaviour in physiology glints frustration in treatment protocols. A vast amount of research and clinical papers, as well as many books have summarised the research, efficacy and power of hyperthermia in oncology, to date [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22, [23], [24], [25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30], [31], [32], [33], [34], [35]. The method is a part of the universal and well-accepted oncology knowledge [36] discussed in details in large textbooks on radiology/radiotherapy [37] and general oncology [38]. The method became a part of standard cancer-care in few countries, limited to only a couple of cancer-types and to some types of heat delivery. There are numerous great advantages of using hyperthermia in oncology [39], [40].
Despite the tremendous books on the topic, no final answer could be reached yet. ICHS tries to clear the open questions and expects interested professionals work together to find the best way for the application of various heat-therapies.
[1] Hornbach NB (1987) Is the community radiation oncologist ready for clinical hyperthermia? RadioGraphics 7:139-141
[2] Storm FK (1993) What happened to hyperthermia and what is its current status in cancer treatment? J Surg Oncol 53:141-143
[3] Brizel DM (1998) Where there’s smoke, is there fire? Int J Hyperthermia 14:593-594
[4] Sneed PK, Dewhirst MW, Samulski T et al (1998) Should interstitial thermometry be used for deep hyperthermia? Int. J. Radiat. Oncol Biol. Phys. 40:1205-1212
[5] Oleson JR (1989) If we can’t define the quality, can we assure it? Int. J. Radiat. Oncol Biol. Phys 16:879
[6] Nielsen OS, Horsman M, Overgaard J (2001) A future of hyperthermia in cancer treatment? (Editorial Comment), European Journal of Cancer, 37:1587-1589
[7] Szasz A (2006) What is against the acceptance of hyperthermia? Die Naturheilkunde Forum-Medizine 83:3-7
[8] Oleson JR (1991) Progress in hyperthermia? Int. J. Radiat. Oncol Biol. Phys 20:1147-1164
[9] Oleson JR (1993) Prostate cancer: hot, but hot enough? Int. J. Radiat. Oncol Biol. Phys. 26: 369-370
[10] van der Zee J (2002) Heating the patient: a promising approach? Annals of Oncology 13:1173-1184
[11] Smythe WR, Mansfield PF (2003) Hyperthermia: has its time come? Ann Surg Oncol 10:210-212
[12] Streffer C, Van Beuningen D, Dietzerl F et al (1978) Cancer Therapy by Hyperthermia and Radiation. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Baltimore-Munich
[13] Gautherie M, Albert E (eds) (1982) Biomedical Thermology. Alan R. Liss, New York
[14] Hornback NB (1984) Hyperthermia and Cancer: Human Clinical Trial Experience. CRC Press, Boca Raton
[[15]] Anghileri LJ, Robert J (1986) Hyperthermia in Cancer Treatment. Vol. 1-3, CRC Press Inc., Boca Raton
[16] Field SB, Franconi C (eds) (1987) Physics and Technology of Hyperthermia. NATO ASI Series. Martinus Nijhoff Publ. Dordrecht, Boston
[17] Urano M, Douple E (eds) (1988) Hyperthermia and Oncology. Vol.1, Thermal Effects on Cells and Tissues. VSP BV, Utrecht, the Netherlands
[18] Urano M, Douple E (eds) (1989) Hyperthermia and Oncology. Vol. 2, Biology of Thermal Potentiation of Radiotherapy. VSP BV, Utrecht, the Netherlands
[19] Gautherie M (ed) (1990) Methods of Hyperthermia Control. Springer Verlag, Berlin
[20] Gautherie M (ed) (1990) Biological Basis of Oncological Thermotherapy. Springer Verlag, Berlin
[21] Gautherie M (ed) (1990) Interstitial Endocavitary and Perfusional Hyperthermia. Springer Verlag, Berlin
[22] Urano M, Douple E (eds) (1992) Hyperthermia and Oncology. Vol. 3, Interstitial Hyperthermia: Physics, Biology and Clinical Aspects. VSP BV, Utrecht, the Netherlands
[23] Seegenschmiedt MH, Sauer R (1993) Interstitial and Intracavitary Thermoradiotherapy. Springer Verlag, Berlin
[24] Matsuda T (ed) (1993) Cancer Treatment by Hyperthermia, Radiation and Drugs. Taylor & Francis, London, Washington DC
[25] Urano M, Douple E (eds) (1994) Hyperthermia and Oncology, Vol.4. Chemopotentiation by Hyperthermia. VSP BV, Utrecht, the Netherlands
[26] Seegenschmiedt MH, Fessenden P, Vernon CC (eds) (1996) Thermoradiotherapy and Thermochemotherapy. Vol. 1, Biology, Physiology and Physics. Springer Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg
[27] Seegenschmiedt MH, Fessenden P, Vernon CC (eds) (1996) Thermo-Radiotherapy and Thermo-Chemiotherapy. Vol. 2, Clinical Applications. Springer Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg
[28] Kosaka M, Sugahara T, Schmidt KL et al (eds) (2001) Thermotherapy for Neoplasia, Inflammation, and Pain. Springer Verlag, Tokyo
[29] Ellis LM, Curley SA, Tanabe KK (2004) Radiofrequency Ablation of Cancer. Springer Verlag, New York, Berlin
[30] Baronzio GF, Hager ED (eds) (2006) Hyperthermia in Cancer Treatment: A Primer. Springer Verlag, Landes Bioscience
[31] Szasz A, Szasz N, Szasz O (2010) Oncothermia – Principles and practices. Springer Science, Heidelberg
[32] Szasz A, Iluri N, Szasz O (2013) Local hyperthermia in Oncology – To Choose or not to Choose? A chapter in book: Hyperthermia, Ed: Huilgol N, ISBN 980-953-307-019-8, InTech
[33] Moros EG (2013) Physics of Thermal Therapy, Fundamentals and Clinical Applications, CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group
[34] Szasz A (2013) Electromagnetic effects in nanoscale range. Cellular Response to Physical Stress and Therapeutic Applications (eds. Tadamichi Shimizu, Takashi Kondo), chapter 4. Nova Science Publishers, Inc
[35] Pang CLK. (2015) Hyperthermia in Oncology, CRC Press
[36] Kufe D et al (2003) Cancer Medicine. BC Decker Inc., Hamilton
[37] Perez CA, Brady LW, Halperin EC et al (2004) Principles and Practice of Radiation Oncology. 4th edition, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia
[38] DeVita VT, Hellman S Jr, Rosenberg SA (2004) Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology. 7th edition. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia
[39] van der Zee J (2002) Heating the patient: a promising approach? Annals of Oncology 13(8):1173-1184
[40] Szasz A, Szasz N, Szasz O (2013) Local hyperthermia in oncology – to choose or not to choose? In: Hyperthermia Huilgol N (ed) InTech, http://www.intechopen.com/books/hyperthermia/local-hyperthermia-in-oncology-to-choose-or-not-to-choose-