Siteman Cancer Center is now offering superficial and interstitial hyperthermia, using the Pyrexar Medical BSD-500, to their cancer patients. The cancer center is located at the Barnes-Jewish Hospital within the Washington University Medical Center complex in the Central West End area of St. Louis, Missouri.
Although the system is utilized to treat a variety of indications, Dr. Imran Zoberi, Chief of Hyperthermia Service and Clinical Director of Radiation Oncology at Barnes-Jewish, is targeting recurrent chest wall tumors. Issues related to the treatment of recurrent breast cancer include radiation dosage limitations, post-surgical skin folds, scarring, and lesions that can make this form of recurrent breast cancer a challenge to treat. Dr. Zoberi, along with William Straube, Research Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology, has been long-time users of hyperthermia as an adjunct to radiotherapy. The new BSD-500 has replaced a retired Labthermics Sonotherm 1000.
According to a randomized phase III clinical trial (Jones study) published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and conclusions of a meta-analysis published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, adding hyperthermia to radiation therapy can potentially double complete response overusing radiation alone in recurrent breast cancer.
Randomized trial of hyperthermia and radiation for superficial tumors.Randomized trial of hyperthermia and radiation for superficial tumors.
J Clin Oncol. 2005 May 1;23(13):3079-85.
Jones EL, Oleson JR, Prosnitz LR, Samulski TV, Vujaskovic Z, Yu D, Sanders LL, Dewhirst MW.Hyperthermia and Radiation Therapy in Locoregional Recurrent Breast Cancers: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2016 Apr
Datta NR, Puric E, Klingbiel D, Gomez S, Bodis S.