Oncothermia in the treatment of head and neck cancer.
Oncothermia treatment applied in conjunction with radiation or chemotherapy can improve efficacy and increase overall and disease-free survival.
In a recent study published by the Department of Radiation, Oncology at Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai, India, led by Dr. Balabhai, assesses the effects of Oncothermia in conjunction with radiation and chemotherapy.
From a retrospective analysis of patients who received paclitaxel or cisplatin together with radical radiation and weekly sessions of Oncothermia, spectacular survival was obtained in advanced head and neck cancer. Similarly, a randomized trial to assess the role of HT with radiation therapy has shown a statistically significant improvement.
Due to high tobacco use, head and neck cancers constitute a significant burden of all cancers in Indian men.
Method
Patients were randomized to receive radiotherapy (RT) alone (control group), 26 patients, or radiation with Oncothermia (RT + ONC) (trial group), 28 patients.
The mean age of the patients in the control group was 58.42 years (45-76 years) and in the test group it was 57.71 years (31-78 years).
Patients in both groups received radiation up to a total dose of 70 Gy in 7 weeks with conventional fractionation of 5 days a week, without treatment on weekends. On the other hand, patients in the trial group received weekly RF-based ONC in addition to RT. Twenty-one patients in the control group and twenty-two patients in the experimental group received more than 60 Gy.
Result
Initial response was assessed within 7-10 days after completion of treatment, based on clinical evaluation.
A complete response was observed in 11 of 26 (42.4%) patients in the radiation alone group, while 22 of 28 (78.6%) patients had a complete response in the ONC + RT group.
The difference between the mean survival times between the RT + ONC and RT groups was almost 100 days.
In conclusion
Oncothermia is a very powerful hypoxic cell sensitizer. Therefore, Oncothermia together with radiation is an ideal combination to follow. The present randomized study, supported by the Indian Council for Medical Research, has shown a survival benefit from adding Oncothermia to radical radiation therapy.
In conclusion, both the randomized trial and the retrospective data analysis demonstrate a significant improvement in survival due to the addition of Oncothermia.
More information
Study published in the Oncothermia Journal, Volume 10, June 2014. To access the full study, you can consult the following link.
If you wish to expand the information regarding Oncotermia applied to cancers, you can visit the following link.
