Microwave hyperthermia for brain tumors

Twelve patients with malignant brain tumors who had failed to respond to conventional therapies were treated with thermotherapy. Hyperthermic temperatures (approximately 43 degrees C) were induced in the tumors using microwaves at a frequency of 2450 MHz that were guided into the tumors by one or more semirigid coaxial applicators. These applicators fit into 16 gauge tubes or needles and can be inserted into the brain with minimal damage to healthy tissues. During each treatment, the tumors were maintained at hyperthermic temperatures for 1 hour. Several treatments spaced a few days apart were usually administered. The procedure used for producing hyperthermia in brain tumors with microwaves proved to be safe and could be repeated several times without producing toxic effects. Objective tumor responses were obtained in 75% of the patients (decrease in tumor size, 3 patients; slowing of tumor growth, 2 patients; necrosis of tumor tissues verified by pathological examination, 4 patients). Favorable clinical responses were observed in 75% of the patients (rapid decrease in intractable headaches, 5 patients; improvements in clinical deficits, 4 patients). Also, in all patients, the microwave power required to heat for a given time or a given volume decreased during most of the thermotherapy sessions, possibly because of heat damage to the tumor vasculature. Our results, taken together with the results of other investigators, indicate that thermotherapy is a promising modality for treating malignant brain tumors, either as the sole therapy or in combination with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The next logical steps would be Phase I/II type trials of subjects whose disease is less advanced than the disease of patients treated in the current series of investigations.