Head and neck cancers: Results of thermoradiotherapy versus radiotherapy

1990, Vol. 6, No. 3 , Pages 479-486

N. R. Datta¹ ^†, A. K. Bose¹,²³, H. K. Kapoor¹,²³ and S. Gupta¹,²³

¹Department of Radiotherapy, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India

²Department of Radiotherapy, Maulana Azad Medical College and associated Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narain, New Delhi, India

³G. B. Pant Hospital, New Delhi, India

^†Correspondence: N. R. Datta, Department of Radiotherapy, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, P.B. No. 375, Lucknow, 226001, India

Sixty-five patients were included in a randomized clinical study to evaluate the efficacy of local hyperthermia as a concomitant agent to radiotherapy in the treatment of carcinoma of the head and neck region. Local hyperthermia at 42–43°C was generated by a 27–12 MHz radiofrequency diathermy unit and was used before radiotherapy in 33 patients; the remaining 32 patients were subjected to radiotherapy alone. The response in patients with early lesions (Stage I and II) was similar for both the groups, while in patients with advanced disease (Stage III and IV) a significantly better tumour control was obtained by the use of the combined treatment