[Thermal dose and fractionation in clinical hyperthermia]

Hyperthermia is one of the most promising methods for cancer treatment. Two important problems are nonetheless to be solved to define the actual role of this technique: the first one is how to express the thermal dose, and the second one is to assess the optimal sequence for the administration of heat and radiation. The authors critically reviewed the literature on the subject, pointing out those questions which have not yet been solved. Their work was then integrated with their own clinical experience on 191 lesions treated by hyperthermia alone or combined with radiotherapy. The impact is also analyzed of such prognostic factors as minimum intratumor temperature and total number of heating session on the final results.