With the increase in the incidence of cancer, the studies on heat treatment for cancer increased, as it was discovered that cancer cells are sensitive to heat, and the treatment was applied in Turkey.
Recently, cancer is a major problem as a result of food, medicine, and various environmental factors that a person is exposed to on a daily basis. Often, a person does not feel that he has a cancerous problem until after the final symptoms appear, or by chance.
Therefore, the great challenge arose to develop effective new treatments with the least possible harm to the patient, as the methods of diagnosing cancer in Turkey have greatly developed, and the question remains: Can all cancers be treated even if they are resistant to conventional treatments?
That is why we will mention in this article a recent method in the field of cancer treatment, especially in the field of interventional radiology for cancer treatment.
Heat treatment for cancer and what benefits the patient to know about it
The use of chemotherapy, radiation, and sometimes hormonal therapy is the most preferred option in the treatment of cancer, where treatment can be done using one of the two methods as in Prostate cancer Or both ways together, as is common.
However, heat therapy, or what is called “heat therapy for cancer,” has recently begun to be applied, which is known as a type of treatment Interventional radiotherapy.
It has also become possible to raise the temperature of the target area as another additional method that can increase the effectiveness of both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Through this method, the affected area is targeted by concentrating heat on it, making it more affected by the treatment followed, whether radiological or chemical, as it was found that it increases the temperature of the target area. The effectiveness of treatment is between 2-5 times.
Before diving into the advantages, disadvantages and costs of heat therapy for cancer, we must understand the mechanism and what is cancer to have a higher education on the subject.
What is cancer?
Cancer occurs when there is an irregular multiplication of cells in an organ or tissue. Although there are many and wide types of cancer, all of them begin with an uncontrolled multiplication of cells that begin to spread, causing damage to normal cells.
Tumors can be divided into benign and malignant tumors, where the difference is that no uncontrolled proliferation of cells occurs again after the removal of the benign tumor, while in malignant tumors, the abnormal cells return to uncontrolled division and replication with a tendency to spread to other parts of the body.
Cancer may also vary according to gender, age, race, skin color, as well as environmental and genetic factors.
Some types of cancer can be identified by some of the symptoms that distinguish them in addition to the shape, density and structural characteristics. However, most types of cancer can not be detected until after many years, despite the fact that they have reached advanced stages. This is the main cause of death in 19.7% of patients who are treated their cancer diagnosis.
Traditional treatment methods and heat therapy method for cancer treatment in Turkey
The main advantage of this method is that it can be performed under local anesthesia without the need for lumbar or general anesthesia, and without any side effects.
Therefore, there will be no possible problems for elderly patients with high-risk diseases such as heart disease, Alzheimer's and paralysis, or patients who use anticoagulants and who fear that they will bleed.
Recently, microwave heat therapy has become widely used in cancer treatment, and has become a very preferred method especially with the many side effects left by radiotherapy, as it can become the most preferred treatment among the treatments used to eliminate cancer particles with its increased effectiveness and decreased Its side effects.
The patient lies comfortably on the treatment bed during the treatment period, which takes an average of 60 minutes.
Radiofrequency waves of adjustable strength are directed to the tumor area with two opposing poles and a high temperature between 42-44°C is reached.
This high temperature destroys the cancer cells and the vessels that feed the cancer.
- Exposing cancer cells to local heat during cancer thermotherapy
Types of heat therapy for cancer in Turkey
- Local Hyperthermia therapy: Used for tumors close to the surface of the body, this treatment involves placing a water-filled applicator over the treatment area. Microwave or ultrasound energy (or echo) is then focused at the site of the tumor, heating a small area of the body.
- Regional Hyperthermia therapy: For tumors deep in the abdomen or pelvis (i.e. tumors of the deep organs), which involve wider areas of the body, usually by weakening the tumor cells before radiation or chemotherapy treatments.
- Whole-body hyperthermia therapy: in which heat therapy includes the whole body, where the body temperature is raised to about 39-40 degrees Celsius, and this type of heat therapy for cancer is used in the treatment of metastatic (disseminated) tumors.
Areas of application of regional hyperthermia for oncology
- Primary tumors or tumors that have spread (metastasized).
- Organ tumors (Bladder Cancer, kidney cancer, lung, etc.).
- Gastrointestinal cancers such asLiver Cancer, Pancreas cancer, Colon Cancer and intestines andstomach and the peritoneal membrane).
- Hip tumors (pelvis).
- Malignant head and neck cancers (ear cancer).
- Brain tumors or tumors spreading to the brain (malignant tumour).
- Breast cancer orUterus orovarian in women.
- prostate tumor.
- skin cancer.
- For superficial skin tumors.
All tumors that are difficult to treat surgically.
The mechanism of action of the application of heat therapy technology for cancer
First: Initiation in Cancer Heat Therapy Cancer cells undergo apoptosis (apoptosis) due to cellular stress and heat-induced damage.
Second: In normal cases, cancerous tissues experience hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and an acidic environment.
This condition reduces the effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy drugs on the cancerous tissue.
As temperatures increase, blood flow to the tumor increases, and thus the acidic environment decreases.
Which leads to increased responses to the treatments applied.
Third: With heat, the production of “heat shock proteins” increases at the cellular level.
This increases the activity of immune cells known as natural killers (T lymphocytes).
Tumor-specific antigen production and antigen release from the cell also increase.
Somehow, the masks that allow cancer cells to hide from the immune system fall off.
Thus, it becomes easier for the immune system to identify the cancer.
Fourth: The structure of the blood capillaries that nourish the tumor in cancerous tissues differs from normal vessels.
With local high temperature, small clots (thrombus) form in these vessels, which affect the nutrition of the tumor.
Both whole-body hyperthermia and local hyperthermia facilitate the passage of antigen-presenting cells, which are specialized cells of the immune system, into the lymph nodes and the immune response to T cells in the "tumor area".
- Illustrative image of a local cancer thermotherapy device
Results of some studies on radiofrequency therapy for cancer
all studies Increased efficacy of chemotherapy is demonstrated when radiofrequency hyperthermia is added. Where it is considered a fourth weapon added to the treatment of cancers, especially when added with other treatments.
- A picture of the mechanism of action of cancer heat therapy and focusing the heat on the tumor area
In the end, we find that the treatment of cancer is a very broad field, and can be greatly developed, as cancer is one of the diseases of this era, and seeks Bimaristan center To secure everything that cancer patients need for treatment and full recovery.
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