[Radiation therapy combined with hyperthermia in advanced cancer]

Radiation therapy combined with radiofrequency (RF) hyperthermia was performed on 5 advanced cancer patients. Included were one each with urinary bladder cancer, hepatoma with left axillary node metastasis, breast cancer, tongue cancer with left cervical metastasis, and mandibular cancer. All had large tumours, which were judged to be uncontrollable by radiotherapy alone. They were treated with irradiation (Linac: 10 MV X-ray 1.8-2.0 Gy/day, 5 days/week), followed within an hour by RF hyperthermia once or twice a week. Partial response was obtained in the urinary bladder cancer patient. Surface overheating around the margin of electrodes occurred in all but no severe complications were observed.