HYPERTHERMOTHERAPY FOR POSTOPERATIVE LOCAL RECURRENCES OF RECTAL-CANCER

Between November 1984 and August 1992 we used hyperthermotherapy in si x cases of local recurrence of rectal cancer. Hyperthermotherapy was p erformed on the average 8.7 times (range: 3-18) for each patient for 6 0 min each. All patients underwent combined radiotherapy and received a mean radiation dose of 42.5 Gy (range: 9-60 Gy). Five patients under went heating within 1 h after irradiation and one patient simultaneous ly with the irradiation. Four patients underwent combined chemotherapy and two patients immunotherapy. Before the treatment all patients had painful lesions, but pain decreased posttherapeutically in five patie nts. Performance status improved in two patients. High carcinoembryoni c antigen levels prior to the therapy in four patients decreased in al l cases after treatment. Posttherapeutical computed tomograms revealed only minor response or no changes. After the treatment, four patients died of exacerbations of recurrent tumors and one patient of distant metastases. The patient who underwent simultaneous radiohyperthermothe rapy is presently alive, in August 1992, 38 months after initiation of the treatment. The 50 % survival time after initiation of the treatme nt was 25 months (range: 10-38 months). Hyperthermotherapy combined wi th radiotherapy, chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy was useful for the alleviation of pain in patients who developed local recurrence after s urgery, and improved survival after recurrences can be expected.