Some cancer patients at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose will now be treated with heat therapy. Whole body hyperthermia is one of the latest cancer fighting strategies, and Good Sam is pioneering it. It works by raising the patient's body temperature high enough so that cancer cells cannot survive.
Because cancer cells are an abnormality, they do not heal well. Exposing cancer cells to heat can be enough to destroy them while not harming normal cells.
Whole body hyperthermia works by heating a patient's blood in tubes outside the body. The blood is heated to over 100 degrees then infused back into the patient's body. The entire procedure takes about two hours – long enough to kill the cancer cells but short enough to safeguard healthy cells. The procedure also utilizes a special filtering system that preserves the blood so it doesn't go bad.
So far, Good Samaritan has treated two patients with whole body hyperthermia in a clinical trial. Both patients were able to return to work.
To learn more, read the CBS article that featured our hospital: San Jose Hospital Pioneering New Treatment That Heats, Kills Cancer Cells.