Thermotherapy

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Thermotherapy, or therapy by induced localised hyperthermia, may be used as a cancer treatment to kill or weaken tumor cells, with limited effects on healthy cells. Tumor cells, with a disorganized and compact vascular structure, have difficulty dissipating heat. Hyperthermia may therefore cause cancerous cells to undergo apoptosis in direct response to applied heat, while healthy cells can more easily maintain a normal temperature. Even if the cancerous cells do not die outright, they may become more susceptible to ionizing radiation treatments or to certain chemotherapies, allowing such therapy to be given in smaller doses. Numerous methods of thermotherapy exist, including focused ultrasound, infrared sauna, radio or microwave-frequency radiation, and magnetic nanoparticle therapy.

Thermotherapy may also be used in vine propagation to get rid of viroids (particles smaller than viruses) which may affect the new vine.

Thermotherapy should not be confused with fever therapy using Coley's Toxins. In fact, they are quite different.

[edit] External links

• Transurethral Microwave Thermotherapy of the Prostate (TUMT) at eMedicine
• Thermotherapy for treating rheumatoid arthritis, from Cochrane Library