Localized current field heating as an adjunct to radiation therapy.

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a pilot study using hyperthermia as an adjunct to radiation therapy in the treatment of malignant disease, spontaneously occurring in domestic animals. Localized current fields (LCF) have been used to produce the hyperthermia. The aim of the pilot study was to establish a reasonable dose regime for testing in a randomized trial. The doses tested ranged from an equivalent 3,000 rads in 3 weeks to 6,000 rads in 6 weeks for the radiation treatments and 43 degrees C for 30 min to 45 degrees C for 30 min for the hyperthermia treatments. To date, there have been either complete or partial (over 50% tumor regression) responses in 82.9% of the animals and complete regression in 54.3% of the tumors. The details of the randomized trial are described.