Hyperthermia therapy is a treatment used in battling cancer by heating tumors.  The heating temperature is about as warm as a hot tub.  Research has shown that heat can damage or kill cancer cells in some tumors while also making radiation therapy more effective in treating some tumors that are recurrent or progressive despite conventional therapy. 

In clinical trials, data has shown that combining hyperthermia and radiation improves response rates for prostate, cervical, head and neck cancers, melanomas and soft tissue sarcomas.  Most marked improvement has been seen in recurrent chest wall cancer-with complete response rate improvement of more than 40 percent.

We are proud to be the only practice in the Pacific NW (including Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana) to offer this advaned treatment modality.   For more information, contact our doctors at Tacoma/Valley Radiation Oncology Centers or visit www.bsdmedical.com/patients.php.

One challenge with conventional radiation treatment options has been to give a high enough dose of radiation to the tumor to be effective, while trying to protect as much of the surrounding healthy tissue as possible. Another challenge has been to accurately target the tumor. Patients and their organs move, and that means the tumor moves. The current method of locating a tumor uses CT scans before treatment. But because that location may move during the weeks of treatment, more of the surrounding healthy tissue is at risk and subject to radiation. IGRT takes into account variations in body and internal organ movement before and during treatment, helping doctors precisely locate tumors. The benefits of IGRT include:

• Safely delivering higher, more effective doses of radiation
• Offering new hope to patients with what were considered “untreatable” tumors
• Helping to protect surrounding tissue
• Shortening the overall treatment period
• Reducing side effects and improving the patient’s quality of life