hyperthermia treatment for Cancer
Hyperthermia Treatment For Cancer
If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, you are probably scared and overwhelmed. Here you can find cancer facts and treatments to help you along your recovery process. We can help you evaluate your options for cancer treatment including hyperthermia. It can be a very effective way to kill cancer cells and help you fight, even for people that have not responded to other treatments.
Hyperthermia treatment for people battling cancer is not a new concept. For centuries, fever therapy (now known as hyperthermia treatment) has been known to have a significant healing effect. When you heat up cancer tissues, heat shock proteins develop, initiating immunological mechanisms of defense against cancer cells. Repair mechanisms in the cancer tissue after chemotherapy or irradiation get impaired by hyperthermia. If the chemotherapy or irradiation is performed in combination with hyperthermia these treatments are much more effective. Also, in many cases it is possible to use a lower dosage of chemotherapy which means less toxicity for the patient.
During Hyperthermia therapy, tumorous tissue is heated using different techniques. As a result of this heating:
- The cancer cells are damaged
- The blood and oxygen supply are reduced, causing an increase of cancer cell killing
- The body’s own immunological defense mechanisms are activated
Hyperthermia is applied solely or in combination with radiation, chemotherapy (possibly insulin potentiated) and nontoxic biological cancer therapies. Hyperthermia is also used, very successfully, in the aftercare or secondary cancer prevention. Especially metastasis and tumors that are inoperable or resistant to conventional treatments can be influenced favorably by hyperthermia.
what is cancer?
Cancer can begin any place in the body and starts when abnormal cells grow out of control and crowd out normal healthy cells. Cancer forms when the body’s normal control mechanisms stop functioning. Old cells do not die and instead continue to create new abnormal cells. The additional cells are what may create a mass of tissue called a tumor. A mass that is cancerous is called malignant. Although, not all cancers form tumors, as there are some cancers that grow in the blood or other cells of the body.
What Triggers Can Induce Cancer?
Cancer can be caused by multiple different factors. Some of the main causes include, an impaired immune system, elevated levels of environmental toxins, lifestyle factors, dietary habits, chronic stress, infectious agents, hormones in food, drugs, radiation exposure, free radicals, and electromagnetic fields.
What Stage is the Cancer?
The treating doctors need to know if and how far the cancer has spread. Knowing the stage of the cancer helps the doctor decide the appropriate treatment. Stage 1 or 2 is a lower stage of cancer and often means the cancer has not spread significantly. Stage 3 or 4 means that the cancer has spread and is more serious.
How is Cancer Treated?
Conventional medicine usually treats the symptoms of the disease. However, not the root cause, which can then develop a better chance of a reoccurrence in cancer later on. By combining conventional treatments with integrative therapies, patients have the best chance of not only overcoming the symptoms but also restoring their health. By activating the immune system through hyperthermia and then incorporating nutrient infusions and detoxification therapies the body is given its best fighting chance to recover.
There are different forms of Hyperthermia used at these hospitals:
Extreme Whole-Body Hyperthermia
Extreme whole-body hyperthermia increases the body temperature to induce a fever. The body’s core temperature is increased carefully using whole-body water filtered infra-red-A-irradiation. The patients’ temperature goes up to about 41° – 42° c (105.8° – 107.6° f). Whole-body hyperthermia is especially useful in advanced cancer, specifically with metastases in different organs, e.g. in the liver, bones, or lungs. Often, it is possible to use very low doses of chemotherapy so that side effects of the chemotherapy are kept to a minimum. Tumors or metastases resistant to chemotherapy can be successfully treated with a combination treatment of chemotherapy and whole-body hyperthermia.
Local Regional Hyperthermia
This type of hyperthermia can be utilized in three ways. It can be applied as superficial hyperthermia for different types of skin cancer and skin metastasis of other primary tumors. Or applied as deep hyperthermia for cancers which are deeply seated such as in the mediastinum, presacral area, liver, and brain. It can also be applied as prostate hyperthermia.
Moderate Whole-Body Hyperthermia
The moderate whole-body hyperthermia mainly activates the immune system. This treatment is given when chemotherapy is not appropriate. The core temperature of the body is raised to about 103.1° f (39.5°C), and possibly as high as 104.5° f (40.28°C). This temperature simulates a natural fever, increasing the number and activity of natural cells, T-helper cells, and cytotoxic T-cells. This treatment is also used in cancers that are associated with the immune system like renal-cell-carcinoma, malignant melanoma, and special lymphomas. Moderate whole-body hyperthermia is also used to prevent recurrences.
Insulin Potentiated Therapy (IPT)
Cancer cells need considerably more sugar than healthy ones. They also possess substantially more insulin receptors than healthy cells. The hospitals use insulin, the hormone produced naturally, to lower blood sugar levels. This creates the cancer cells to crave sugar and open their gates to receive a substantial amount. When the blood sugar drops, a small quantity (10-20% of the normal dose) of cytostatic drugs (drugs that inhibit cell growth) are given. We call this condition “the therapeutic window”, because now those hungry cancer cells consume the blood sugar together with the cytostatics. While the cellular gates are wide open, the cytostatics can be transferred selectively into the tumor, creating an enhanced effect of the tumor, with significantly less side effects. Its purpose is to decrease the usual dosage amount of cancer treatment medicine. Not only is this approach less toxic than conventionally infused chemotherapy, but it also generates a superior “killing rate” for the cancer. Also, this therapy has been shown to benefit cancers that have been resistant to prior treatment. IPT can be combined with local and systemic hyperthermia as well, leading to an even higher response rate. After this therapy, detoxification treatments are administered to support the liver and immune system.
Ten Basic Cancer Facts
- Cancer is a class of diseases, where abnormal cells divide uncontrollably and can form a mass of tissue known as a tumor. There are two types of tumors, benign and malignant. A malignant tumor is cancerous, while a benign tumor is not considered cancerous. Cancer cells can multiply to various parts of the body through the bloodstream and lymphatic system.
- There are over 100 types of Cancers. Most cancers are classified by the organ or type of cell that is initially affected. The different types of cancer can be grouped into broader categories. The main categories of cancer include Carcinoma, Sarcoma, Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma, and cancers that affect the Central Nervous System.
- The majority of cancers are caused from changes in the cell’s DNA due to damage from the environment. Carcinogens are the environmental factors that are responsible for the initial mutation of the DNA. However, cancer can also be a result of a genetic predisposition, where an individual could be born with a certain genetic mutation.
- Common risk factors that can cause cancer include tobacco, alcohol, diet and obesity, infections, radiation, stress, lack of exercise, occupation, family history, and environmental pollutants. The reduction of exposure to carcinogenic agents is necessary in the prevention of cancer.
- Approximately one fifth of all cancers worldwide are caused by a chronic infection. Viruses, bacteria, and parasites are all infectious agents that cause cancer. These agents suppress and weaken the immune system, which prevents the body’s ability to fight infection and increases the risk of developing cancer.
- Cancer is anaerobic, and cannot survive in an oxygenated environment. Carcinogens contribute to the starvation of oxygen in the cell because they impair cellular respiration. Ozone therapy is a type of treatment for cancer, which ensures that the body receives the oxygen it needs, while eliminating toxins, bacteria, and impeding the growth of cancer cells or even help to return them to normal.
- Hyperthermia is another type of treatment that supplies oxygen to the cancer site. As the body temperature rises, circulation and the supply of oxygen increase too. Hyperthermia is a highly successful treatment in the management of malignant tumors. While heat is applied to the tumor and the tissue around it, the temperature rises, causing the tumor cells to die.
- When cancer begins it often does not produce any symptoms or signs. Therefore, it is crucial to get tested regularly. As the cancer grows, symptoms may occur due to the mass of the tumor or its ulceration. General symptoms include weight loss, fever, fatigue, and changes to the skin. However, depending on the location, symptoms can consist of enlarged lymph nodes, liver, or spleen, which can be felt in the abdomen, pain or fracture of affected bones, and neurological symptoms.
- The chance of surviving cancer greatly improves when it is detected early. Some of the most common diagnostic tests include biopsy, endoscopy, blood tests, and diagnostic imaging. Imaging methods such as X-rays, CT scans, MRI scans, PET scans, and ultrasound scans are commonly used to detect the organs affected, and the location of the tumor.
- Staging is a way of indicating the size of a cancerous growth, how far it has spread, treatment needed, and prognosis. The TNM system is the most common staging method. T (1-4) describes the size of the primary tumor, N (0-3) describes the extent to which the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes, and M (0-1) describes if the cancer has metastasized to other organs in the body. The number system is a simpler categorization of stages. The scale is usually from 1 to 4, where the lower numbers indicates that the cancer has not spread as far.