2012 Volume 28 Issue 1 Pages 11-16
A symposium entitled "Immunological Science of Hyperthermia (basic and clinical)" was held during the 28th annual meeting of the Japanese Society of Thermal Medicine in September, 2011. We presented the following clinical and experimental data in this symposium.
Clinical : We treated 1,386 patients with advanced or recurrent cancer by hyperthermia, immunotherapy or their combination, between July 2005 and August 2011. Hyperthermia was applied in 1,307 patients, activated lymphocytes therapy (CAT) in 995 patients, and dendritic cell therapy (DC) in 689 patients. The response to therapy was evaluated retrospectively in 1,343 patients, and 188 (14.0%) responded to therapy, including 35 who showed a complete response. The response to immunotherapy increased from 8.1% to 17.9% when it was combined with hyperthermia, and the response was the highest in patients who received the combination of CAT+DC+hyperthermia.
Experimental : Mice inoculated with Lewis lung cancer (LLC) tumors were treated with hyperthermia or CAT. Each of hyperthermia and CAT reduced tumor growth and rate of lung metastasis, and the effects were more pronounced in animals treated by the two modalities. Each of hyperthermia and molecular target therapy reduced tumor growth and rate of lung metastasis, and increased the proportion of apoptotic cells in the tumor, and the effects were more pronounced in animals treated by the two modalities. The results suggest that hyperthermia enhances the effects of immunotherapy in cancer patients.
