BSD Medical Corporation produces systems that deliver precision-focused microwave/RF energy to increase the temperature of cancerous tumors, producing hyperthermia in the tumors.

An article of note published in Boston Globe entitled "Getting warmer in bid to kill tumors" names four mechanisms by which hyperthermia
fights cancer:

1. "When you combine heat and radiation, the cell-killing of cancer cells
is better," according to a quotation by Dr. Jay Harris, Chairman of
Radiation Oncology at both Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and
Women's Hospital.

2. "Radiation works by damaging DNA. But there must be enough oxygen
nearby for this damage to occur. Parts of tumors are tough to kill
because they have a poor blood supply and, thus, low oxygen levels.
Raising the temperature of a tumor brings more blood and, hence, more
oxygen to the tumor."

3. "With chemotherapy, drugs get inside tumor cells through small
channels on the cell surface. 'The heat opens these channels so that
chemotherapy drugs can more easily enter in,'" according to Dr. Wazer also
quoted above.

4. "Hyperthermia also seems to 'jump-start the immune response' at least
in mice, said Elizabeth Repasky, an immunology professor at the Rosewell
Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, who is now looking at the effects in
humans. Just as a fever with the flu may boost immune response, so might
hyperthermia, a kind of artificial fever."

Hyperthermia uses microwaves raise the temperature of a tumor to 104 to 106 degrees Fahrenheit. Although heating tumors have not yet proved to save lives, recent studies suggest that hyperthermia can boost the tumor-killing power of chemotherapy and radiation.

Source:[PR News Wire]