[Strategy for thermochemotherapy of cancer]

Tumor cell killing effects of chemotherapeutic agents and hyperthermia are greatly enhanced in vivo as well as in vitro by the use of these two modalities in combination. The additive or synergistic effect is also observed in normal cells of the host animal. Therefore, the most important point of the strategy for clinical application resides in the selective damaging of tumor cells. From this point of view, several instructive reports which appeared recently were reviewed.