Dr. Sennewald Medizintechnik GmbH

Why hyperthermia significantly increases the efficacy of cytostatica

Hyperthermia can also significantly increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy. As with radiation therapy, the primary reason is increased perfusion in the tumor tissue. The improved blood flow simplifies the uptake of cytostatica through the cell membranes. In addition, the increased temperature functions as an activator for the drug therapy because the chemical reactions are accelerated by the heat.

When treating large tumors in particular, hyperthermia represents an ideal supplement to chemotherapy. Often, the center and other regions of cancer foci of large tumors have poor blood circulation, retarding cell growth. As a result, they are not reached by cytostatica that primarily attack quickly dividing cells. Hyperthermia significantly increases the perfusion of the tumor cells and therefore the uptake of the drug.

Numerous publications have described the interactions between hyperthermia and various cytostatica, such as doxorubicin, mitomycin C, mitoxantrone, bleomycin, cisplatin, nitric acid, uric acid, and cyclosphosphamide. Heat therapy has been shown to make resistant tumors responsive to cytostatica.

Hyperthermia has been used with liposomes to target release of the cytostatica directly in the tumor. The cytostatica are “packed” into the liposomes, tiny spheres of fat. Using an intravenous drip, these liposomes are injected into the patient‘s blood. When they reach a part of the body that has been warmed to 42°C the liposomes melt, releasing their contents. This enables large quantities of chemotherapy drugs to be delivered directly to the tumor, significantly reducing side effects.