Interaction between microwave-induced brain hyperthermia and high dose rate radiation in the BT4 An brain glioma in rats

The cerebral BT4An glioma model in BD IX rats was used to study the effect of hyperthermia given in combination with radiotherapy (thermoradiotherapy) in the treatment of brain tumours. A single treatment with high dose rate radiation was given to a local brain field. Local brain hyperthermia was given at 42.4 degrees C for 45 min by externally applied microwaves (700 MHz), immediately before radiotherapy (10 Gy). In a pilot study, thermoradiotherapy increased the median life span with 20 days compared to controls, which was significantly better than that observed after radiotherapy alone (7 days). In an extended experiment the corresponding figures for thermoradiotherapy, hyperthermia alone and radiotherapy alone were 12.5, 3.5, and 3.5 days, respectively. Thermoradiotherapy was significantly better than radiotherapy and hyperthermia alone. There was no acute mortality in these experiments. Neurological side-effects were infrequent, of slight degree and reversible. The present study shows that a survival benefit of adding hyperthermia to radiotherapy can be achieved without unacceptable neurological side-effects in an animal glioma model.