Modern Advances In Hyperthermia Therapy And Cancer Stem Cells 

How is hyperthermia therapy delivered?

Overheating cancer tissues can be achieved using several methods. Microwave heating, infrared light, ultrasound can all be used. The whole body hyperthermia can be achieved simply by placing a patient in a hot room or wrapping him in hot blankets. This method aims to destroy metastatic cancer cells that already spread around the body. The whole body hyperthermia is more risky, however, and is not used often.

Blood perfusion method relies on removing the patient’s blood from the body, heating it up and returning back through the site close to tumor. The heated blood usually gets infused with chemotherapeutic drugs. This approach helps to improve the selectivity and effectiveness of anticancer drug therapy. The method is often used to treat difficult cancers in the abdominal region such as stomach cancer and peritoneal mesothelioma.  

Magnetic hyperthermia and cancer stem cells

Magnetic hyperthermia is a relatively new experimental cancer treatment.

 Most commonly used nanoparticles consist of iron oxide. They can be delivered inside tumor either by direct injection or using specialized delivery systems based on the chemical modification of nanoparticle’s surface. Once magnetic particles are inside the tumor, application of magnetic field leads to the localized generation of heat which helps to destroy cancerous cells.

New interesting phenomenon was reported recently by researchers from the University of Minnesota.

The implications of this finding can be very significant. Cancer stem cells are specialized cells that are responsible for tumor formation, progression, regrowth and spread. They are physiologically and biochemically different from the majority of tumor cells. Modern drugs can successfully eliminate the bulk of cancer cells from the body, but due to these biochemical differences they fail to target cancer stem cells. Survival of cancer stem cells ensures eventual return of cancer after chemotherapy.  

More research needed to achieve practical goals

Unfortunately, our understanding of cancer stem cells is still very poor. Even their existence is still debated by some scientists, and their definite presence is confirmed only for some types of cancer. Currently, we have no therapeutic methods of targeting and killing these cells. It is clear that without developing these methods we won’t be able to address the problem of cancer recurrence and spread. Magnetic hyperthermia might be a surprisingly effective and relatively simple method to achieve this goal. It still remains to be seen how well it will work, and more research will be needed to develop effective therapeutic approaches which are affordable and available for every patient.