Full Description
The present challenge in the treatment of tumors is to reduce the number of patients that still die as a result of primary tumors. Today, the percentage of such deaths remains high at 30%, even when all the common therapeutic methods, namely surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, are applied. In order to reduce this percentage, new types of radiation sources with a higher linear energy transfer have been intro duced, such as neutrons and pions. Fractionation patterns have been modified and radiosensitizers have been applied to in crease biological efficiency. Studies of the combined application of chemotherapy and radiotherapy have been made to find the best therapeutic effect. In the early 1970s biological findings confirmed the effect of hyperthermia on tumor cells. The first clinical studies on hyper thermia treatment demonstrated that it resulted in better local tumor control. Further application of this treatment modality showed that hyperthermia should be used in addition to radio therapy and chemotherapy. Despite these encouraging results, hyperthermia has not been introduced into common clinical use, due primarily to technical problems. There are a number of methods of transferring heat into tumors; however, with regard to physical conditions, an op timum method has not yet been found. One of the reasons is that up to now we have had no reliable method of obtaining thermal mapping of all parts of the human body. Such measurements are required not only for dosimetric purposes but also for the regula tion of a hyperthermic system.
Contents
Clinical Requirements.- Clinical Requirements of Local and Regional Hyperthermia Application.- Electromagnetic Heating.- Field Penetration from Electromagnetic Applicators for Localized Hyperthermia.- The Development of Applicators for Deep-Body Hyperthermia.- Heating of a Rhabdomyosarcoma of the Rat by 2450 MHz Microwaves: Technical Aspects and Temperature Distributions.- An Automatic Hyperthermia System for Cancer Treatment.- Hyperthermia System for Deep-Seated Tumors.- Interstitial Hyperthermia.- Technical Aspects of Interstitial Hyperthermia.- Ultrasound-Induced Hyperthermia.- Theoretical and Technical Aspects of the Design of Ultrasonic Hyperthermia Equipment.- Thermometry and Thermal Modeling.- Microwave Oncologic Hyperthermia Combined with Radiotherapy and Controlled by Microwave Radiometry.- The Applicability of Microwave Thermography for Deep-Seated Volumes.- Microwave Radiometry for Temperature Monitoring in Biological Structures: An Outline.- Fiber Fabry-Perot Thermometer for Medical Applications.- Temperature Measurements by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Its Possible Use as a Means of In Vivo Noninvasive Temperature Measurement and for Hyperthermia Treatment Assessment.- Hyperthermia Treatment Planning.- Temperature Field Computation for Radiofrequency Heating of Deep-Seated Tumors.- Summery and Conclusion.- Physical Point of View.- Clinical Point of View.
