Biological Basis of Oncologic Thermotherapy (Paperback)

This volume deals with the biological and pathophysiological basis of thermotherapy in a comprehensive manner and thus provides basic information to researchers investigating the various phenomena involved in the interaction between heat and living cells or tissue, as well as to clinicians who are undertaking therapeutic trials of hyperthermia, especially in cancer treatment. Along with an updated review of the mechanisms of cell killing by heat, particular emphasis is laid upon ongoing research on topics which are of utmost importance with regard to the definition of treatment protocols and understanding of the tumor response to thermotherapy. These include effects of hyperthermia on blood flow rates and microcirculation in normal and malignant tissue, enhancement of radiation and drug-induced cell killing by hyperthermia, genetic and biochemical processes governing the heat schock response, and the phenomena of thermosensitivity and thermotolerance vs. thermoresistance.