Hyperthermia – effective cancer treatment method in Germany
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Germany is one of the most prosperous countries in the field of cancer treatment. German clinics offer the latest methods of fighting malignant neoplasms that are not available in hospitals in other countries yet. One of the actively developing methods is called hyperthermia. High temperatures influence cancer cells during the treatment.
Content
- What is hyperthermia, and which types of hyperthermia exist?
- How does hyperthermia work?
- How does HIPEC work and how is it performed?
- Who needs hyperthermia?
- Benefits
- How to undergo hyperthermia in Germany
What is hyperthermia, and which types of hyperthermia exist?
Hyperthermia is a treatment method that involves heating the human body tissues to safe temperatures. Unlike radiofrequency ablation or other methods of tumor destruction, hyperthermia does not damage healthy tissues in the human body. Heating reaches 39.5-40.5 degrees, sometimes up to 43 degrees during the therapy process.
There are several types of hyperthermia, such as:
Local, small areas of the body are exposed to the heating. In this case, the tumor is destroyed without temperature influence on the healthy tissue. The source of heating can be represented by ultrasound, radiofrequency, or microwave exposure. Magnetic hyperthermia is also used. The heating can affect the body from the outside if the tumor can be reached by this approach. Otherwise, the heating source is inserted into the body with the help of needles or probes. If the needle is injected directly into the tumor, this procedure is called interstitial hyperthermia.
Regional, a particular organ or part of the body is exposed to heating (for example, a limb). The purpose of the intervention is to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic or radiation influence. This method is most often used as an additional one in combination with other therapeutic methods.
In the case of regional hyperthermia, different methods of the human body parts heating can be used. These may be the same heating sources as in local hyperthermia. The machines, which extracorporeally (outside the human body) heat the blood by passing it through the special devices, are also used. Blood of higher temperature returns to the targeted part of the body.
Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is a type of regional hyperthermia. The essence of the procedure is that after the removal of a malignant tumor of the abdominal cavity, the abdomen is washed with a heated chemo solution. This method is performed in Germany, although it is still not available in most countries. Hot anticancer drugs destroy the remaining cancer cells, and therefore the procedure significantly reduces the risk of recurrence.
General hyperthermia is the third type of this treatment method. It involves heating the whole body. It is used in the case of metastatic cancer. Infrared radiation is used as a heat source, or a person is simply placed in a room with a high air temperature.
High Level-Whole Body Hyperthermia is a type of general hyperthermia in which the patient's body is heated to a temperature of 43-43.7 degrees. This procedure requires special training in order to protect healthy body tissues. The preparation is carried out within a few days. Heating of the human body is performed under general anesthesia. The procedure takes approximately 1 hour.
How does hyperthermia work?
High temperatures can have a direct cytotoxic effect on the tumor tissues as they are more sensitive to the heating than healthy cells of the body. It happens because the tumor is located in an unfavorable microenvironment. It does not receive enough oxygen and nutrients; therefore, its cells are less resistant to any influences.
Hyperthermia increases the effectiveness of radiation and chemotherapy. This is due to the increased blood flow to the tumor. Perfusion can increase in the healthy tissues by two times, and in tumor tissue, it increases by ten times. It improves the penetration of chemotherapy drugs into the malignant tumor.
After irradiation, the heating is meant to block cell restoration mechanisms.
The stimulation of immunity occurs under the influence of the high temperature. The body's defenses begin to resist the tumor process more effectively.
Hyperthermia increases the possibility of penetration of drugs with high molecular weight (more than 1000 Daltons) into the cells. Primarily, these are monoclonal antibodies and liposomal drugs.
How does HIPEC work and how is it performed?
Let's take a closer look at HIPEC – hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. HIPEC is used in quite severe cases: when the tumor has gone beyond the affected organ (intestine, ovary, stomach) and is actively spreading in the abdominal cavity. The surface area of the peritoneum is about two square meters, so surgeons are unable to examine every millimeter and every fold of tissue for micrometastases. And even when used in such clinical situations, HIPEC improves survival rates, as confirmed by numerous clinical trials.
Treatment is always inpatient because HIPEC is the second stage of cytoreductive surgery. The goal of cytoreductive surgery is to remove the affected organ and all visible metastases in the abdomen. The more cancer cells the surgeon removes mechanically, the lower the final tumor burden and the higher the chance of treatment success.
After the revision of the abdominal cavity, the surgeon inserts several catheters into the abdomen: a heated solution of chemopreventive agent is pumped through them. This is HIPEC, actually. The equipment maintains a temperature of 42-43 degrees Celsius, pressure and the necessary speed of circulation of the chemotherapeutic solution. The fluid cleans the abdominal cavity mechanically: it flushes out blood clots and remnants of malignant tissue. Heated chemotherapeutic agent intensively penetrates into the peritoneum and destroys metastases invisible to the eye.
The procedure lasts 1-1.5 hours, after which the surgeon sews up all the incisions and transfers the patient to the ward of the intensive care unit, under round-the-clock supervision of doctors. In total, cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC take 10-12 days.
Who needs hyperthermia?
Local hyperthermia can be used in cancer of the breast, skin, prostate, rectum, pharynx, and larynx. If the tumor is available for direct heating, its temperature can be increased to destroy the neoplasm cells.
Intraoperative hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy is used directly during the surgery. The indications include gastric cancer and some types of malignant intestinal tumors. This method is also used for metastatic peritoneal lesions and for cancer of other localizations.
General hyperthermia is used in almost all types of cancer, including metastatic ones. It sets the following purposes:
- Tumor reduction before the surgery.
- Neoplasm relapse prevention due to the destruction of metastases. For this purpose, hyperthermia is performed after surgery as early as possible, sometimes in 2-3 weeks.
- Symptoms relieving by reducing the tumor size in case of inoperable cancer beyond the stage 1-3.
Today hyperthermia is an alternative treatment option. It is not used as widely as other methods. Hyperthermia cannot replace surgery or radiation therapy but only complements them. Local or general heating of the body can also be used when other treatment methods are not medically applicable or if the patient refuses them.
Benefits
The benefits of hyperthermia in the treatment of cancer at stage one-three and at the advanced cancer stages:
- It has minimal contraindications. Therefore, it can be used in weakened patients, even when they are unable to receive chemotherapy or undergo the radiation course for health reasons.
- There are no side effects. The procedure is well tolerated by most patients.
- There are no big money expenditures. Heating of a particular part of the body or the whole body does not require expensive drugs or the usage of high-tech equipment.
- In most cases, the procedure is non-invasive. The heating source is located outside the human body or placed inside through the natural openings (urethra, mouth, rectum).
- The possibility of carrying out on an outpatient basis. A person does not need to be hospitalized.
- It can be used as an addition to chemotherapy and radiation therapy to increase their effectiveness.
The effectiveness of hyperthermia has been confirmed by hundreds of clinical trials. In particular, the US National Library of Medicine has published an analysis of 109 trials of hyperthermia for the treatment of cancer. Because of the encouraging results, the number of trials is increasing every year.
How to undergo hyperthermia in Germany
If you want to take advantage of the achievements of German medicine in the field of cancer treatment, contact Booking Health for help. Booking Health is the international leader in the sphere of medical tourism. The company has been organizing oncology treatment in specialized hospitals for over 15 years, offering patients classical therapeutic protocols and medical innovations: hyperthermia, immunotherapy, robotic surgery, cryoablation, external beam or intensity modulated radiation therapy, irreversible electroporation, etc.
Booking Health offers help in such important aspects:
- Choosing the right clinic based on the annual qualification profile
- Establishing communication directly with your doctor
- Preparing medical program in advance, without repeating previous examinations
- Providing favorable costs without overpricing and additional coefficients for foreign patients (saving up to 50%)
- Booking the appointment on the necessary date
- Monitoring medical programs at all stages
- Help in buying and forwarding medicines
- Communication with the clinic after treatment completion
- Control of invoices and return of unspent funds
- Organization of additional examinations
- Offering service of the highest level: booking hotels and plane tickets, transfer organization
Make a request on our website to learn more about the possibility of booking the medical program with the help of Booking Health.
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Authors:
The article was edited by medical experts, board certified doctors Dr. Vadim Zhiliuk, Dr. Sergey Pashchenko. For the treatment of the conditions referred to in the article, you must consult a doctor; the information in the article is not intended for self-medication!
Sources:
IMTJ - International Medical Travel Journal
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