Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide according to the World Cancer Research Fund International. With nearly 2 million new cases diagnosed in 2018 (second most common cancer overall). This represents about 12% of all new cancer cases and 25% of all cancers in women.
Clinical results like the one below reveal that both Chemotherapy and Radiation treatment are more effective when combined with Hyperthermia. Hyperthermia warms the tumor to temperatures in the "fever range" which makes the cancer cells more sensitive to treatment. Normal healthy cells recover while cancer cells die.
Randomized trial of hyperthermia and radiation for superficial tumors, Jones et al.
By adding twice-weekly hyperthermia treatments to the daily radiation therapy treatments, the success rate for complete response (no cancer) was tripled. Hyperthermia is known to increase blood flow and perfusion, prevent damaged cancer cells from repairing during treatment, and helping the body's immune system identify and destroy cancer cells.
Clinical Results:
One hundred twenty-two patients were enrolled; 109 (89%) were deemed heatable and were randomly assigned. The complete response rate was 66.1% in the HT arm and 42.3% in the no-HT arm. The odds ratio for complete response was 2.7 (95% CI, 1.2 to 5.8; P = .02). Previously irradiated patients had the greatest incremental gain in complete response: 23.5% in the no-HT arm versus 68.2% in the HT arm. No overall survival benefit was seen.
How the BSD-500 Treat Breast Cancer
The MA-120 applicator with a water bolus is placed in skin contact over the tumor area. Deionized water is circulated into the bolus during treatment. The circulating water has three purposes; 1) complete surface contact to assist in directing RF energy toward the tumor; 2) manage patient comfort by cooling skin surface; 3)by adjusting bolus temperature, RF energy depth can be controlled. 1 to 2 treatments per week are generally prescribed along with radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments.