1989 Volume 14 Issue 2 Pages 92-99
Neck node metastases in 32 patients were treated by hyperthermia in combination with irradiation. Hyperthermia was administered regionally with a microwave of 2.45 GHz, once or twice a week. Irradiation was delivered in 2 Gy fractions a day for 5 days a week with dose ranging from 20 to 80 Gy. Hyperthermia was begun within 60 minutes following irradiation. Most of the patients were treated with 42.5℃ for 60 minutes.
Of 32 lesions, 4(12.5%) had a complete regression,16(50%) apartial regression (PR) and 12 (37.5%) no regression, when the tumor response was assessed by tumor size measurement. The responses did not vary significantly with the histologic category. It seemed that combined therapy resulted in improved initial control rate, but produced no benefit to long-term survival of the patients. Malignant cells were not detected by histopathologic examination in 3 of 4 PR cases who underwent neck dissection following thermoradiotherapy. The tumor regression following this therapy did not correlate with the histologic features.
No abnormal reactions appeared in the areas that were treated by the combined treatment, except reactions commonly seen in areas that were treated by irradiation.
