Cancer therapy with localized hyperthermia using an invasive microwave system.

A system has been developed for producing local hyperthermia in small animal tumors by means of an invasive needle microwave antenna. Thermal distributions produced by this system using 1 GHz microwaves have been characterized in mammary adenocarcinomas (MTG-B) implanted in thighs of C3H mice. Therapeutic efficacy by hyperthermia was demonstrated by comparing MTG-B diameters in mice following control, sham or hyperthermia treatment. It is proposed that this system could be employed clinically to provide very local hyperthermia in deep-seated tumors.