Effectiveness of intrathoracic chemothermotherapy for malignant pleurisy due to Ewing's sarcoma: a case report

This paper describes a case of malignant pleurisy which showed evidence of the effectiveness of a new mode of cancer treatment, intrathoracic chemothermotherapy (ICT). ICT consisted of a bolus intrathoracic injection of 50 mg cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (CDDP) and local heating using 8 MHz radiofrequency waves for 60 min. A patient with multiple lung metastases and malignant pleurisy on both sides due to Ewing's sarcoma was treated on the right side with ICT, along with concomitant systemic administration of 50 mg CDDP. Intrathoracic temperatures were monitored by insertion of thermocouple temperature sensors, and temperatures of 43 degrees C or over were successfully maintained for about 40 min during each of three treatments. Although the patient died 3 months later of advanced metastases in the left lung and malignant pleurisy on the left side, lung metastases in the right lung were stable on radiographs, and autopsy results showed no cancerous lesions in the right thoracic cavity, which had been treated with ICT. Since no effective response had been obtained clinically or histologically before starting ICT, despite frequent administration of anti-cancer drugs, we conclude that heat acted synergistically with CDDP on drug-resistant cells in this case.