Accurate induction of tumor “fever” can improve cancer cure rate

Accurate induction of tumor “fever” can improve cancer cure rate

Accurate induction of tumor “fever” can improve cancer cure rate.  “Medical Express” reports that accurately induced tumors to “fever” to fight cancer.

Heating the tumor can greatly improve the effect of tumor radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which increases the possibility of recovery, and can reduce the side effects to patients by reducing the use of radiation and drugs. The effective method of heating the tumor by ultrasound is non-invasive and ensures precise positioning. In order to optimize the cancer-killing effect of radiotherapy and chemotherapy using thermosonic therapy, Dr. Daniel Deenen has developed an autonomous learning algorithm that automatically controls the beam based on current tumor temperature measurements. This new method can greatly improve the cancer cure rate of patients.

There are more than 18 million new cases of cancer and 9 million deaths each year, making it the second leading cause of death in the world. In fact, in the Netherlands, cancer is the main cause of death, and almost one-third of people die of cancer. In addition to surgery, cancer treatment usually includes radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Their toxicity limits the acceptable dose and may cause serious side effects to surviving patients.

Heating temperature

In thermotherapy, heating the tumor to a fever temperature of about 42°C for more than 60 minutes significantly improves the efficacy of radiotherapy and chemotherapy without causing additional toxicity or side effects. Therefore, high temperature can be used to greatly increase the likelihood of disease-free and long-term survival, or to allow the use of lower whole body doses of radiation and drugs to reduce the severity of side effects associated with cancer treatment. However, accurate control of tumor temperature is critical to the outcome of hyperthermia treatment.

In the MR-HFU thermal treatment guided by magnetic resonance, ultrasound is used for powerful and millimeter-level heating, and the MRI scanner is used to measure the tumor temperature in real time, so that completely non-invasive treatment can be achieved , It is of great help to the comfort and well-being of patients.

Controller

Dr. Deenen’s research goal is to develop an algorithm or “controller” that can automatically control the HIFU beam based on the current tumor temperature measurement results, so that the tumor temperature and anti-cancer effect can be optimized. These algorithms understand the thermal behavior of the tumor from the measurement data, and then adjust the direction of the HIFU accordingly, providing an accurate and safe heating guarantee for personalized thermotherapy. This is essential in practical applications, because each patient and tumor is different and may even change over time.

In addition, he also designed the controller to make the best treatment effect for larger tumors higher than before. Researchers used artificial tissue simulation models (so-called phantoms) and real-life experiments on large animals at the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany, to prove that these algorithms can be successfully applied to the clinic.

Clinical Trials

This doctoral study is an important step in providing the best, safe and effective thermotherapy for cancer patients. In fact, clinical trials of MR-HIFU hyperthermia are currently underway at the Cologne University Hospital. This is a real advancement in the medical field, which in turn can greatly improve the chances of cancer patients’ recovery.

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