Microwavable Cancers: Heat plus radiation shrinks some tumors
By Nathan Seppa
The idea of heating a tumor to make it more vulnerable to radiation treatment has had appeal for decades. But tests in the early 1990s yielded negative or inconsistent results. In Europe, the methods for this tricky procedure have improved since then and test results have shown promise. Still, the combination of procedures has been used sparingly in the United States.
In a new U.S. study, researchers have demonstrated that when tumors were kept warmer than 40°C for at least an hour after radiation treatment, they shrank significantly more than did irradiated tumors that weren’t heated.