[Preoperative hyperthermo-chemo-radiotherapy of carcinoma of the esophagus].
Hyperthermia is particularly effective for the treatment of clinical carcinoma when applied concomitantly with radiation and chemotherapy. However, there are certain difficulties when hyperthermia is to be applied to a deeply located lesion and the approach to heating only a deep portion of the body and measurement of the exact temperature in these deep areas has remained a problem in therapeutics. We devised an antenna for radio frequency (RF). This is easily inserted into the esophagus, and carcinoma of the esophagus is properly warmed and the exact temperature is monitored. We have prescribed preoperative hyperthermo-chemo-radiotherapy for 31 patients with carcinoma of the esophagus, and we examined the histological findings of the resected specimens. The findings were compared with data on 108 patients treated with preoperative irradiation only. The preoperative hyperthermo-chemo-radiotherapy increased the rate of "markedly effective" in the resected tissue comparing with the findings in case of irradiation only. Thus, preoperative hyperthermo-chemo-radiotherapy is the recommended treatment for patients with carcinoma of the esophagus.
D000818:Animals; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D006979:Hyperthermia, Induced; D051379:Mice