The relationship of body temperatures to the efficacy of chemotherapy against systemic metastases from B16 melanoma.

Potential synergy between physiologic levels of heat and chemotherapy was investigated in C57BL/6 mice bearing the B16 melanoma. Low levels of hyperthermia alone had no effect on the growth of the primary tumor but augmented the growth delay induced by cyclophosphamide. Although the addition of hyperthermia to chemotherapy and amputation increased the duration of survival and decreased the number of pulmonary metastases, heat did not increase the cure rate of animals with gross or microscopic pulmonary metastases. The incidence of local recurrence was decreased by hyperthermia in animals treated with chemotherapy and incomplete excision of the primary tumor.