Hyperthermia Blog

The CME-accredited educational program offered by the University of Maryland, School of Thermal Oncology is now open for registration.

The last session drew an international crowd, including physicians from South Korea, Poland, and Japan, as well as prominent cancer centers here in the U.S. The feedback we received, was that this was a five-star educational program, valuable to any member of a thermal oncology team.  Topics covered all aspects of practice management, patient treatment, physics, and workflow. Practice managers shared how adding thermal oncology to their services increased overall revenue by over 19%.  This information is essential for centers that want to add hyperthermia systems but require cost justification to receive purchase approval.

Pyrexar Medical continues to support educational outreach from organizations like the University of Maryland, Society of Thermal Medicine, European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology, and similar institutions that strive to move forward hyperthermia research in the treatment of cancer. The CME course outline can be found here.

The ESHO 35 (European Society of Hyperthermic Oncology) just wrapped up in Cologne, Germany last week. Representing Pyrexar at the event was the team from Dr. Sennewald Medizintechnik. Dr. Sennewald is the primary sponsor of this year's event and has supported this event since its founding.

The event was held at the KOMED event center in the MediaPark in downtown Cologne. The conference included two days of lectures and presentations covering all aspects of thermal therapy advancements. It is often an opportunity for researchers to present status updates on ongoing projects.  Dr. Dario Rogriques, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine presented the details of an upcoming animal study for the Pyrexar Hal.o head applicator for the treatment of glioblastoma.

Dr. Rodriques's program objective is to evaluate numerically the feasibility of focused heating in the minipig brain using the noninvasive MR-compatible brain applicator (Hal.o) and assess the feasibility of partial brain heating to design blood perfusion measurement experiments to improve the accuracy of temperature simulations using large mammal data.  A full-scale prototype has been built and tested to verify heating performance.

The First Annual Department of Radiation Oncology Research Symposium was held at the University of Maryland's Medical School Teaching Facility. The symposium gives faculty, residents, and student researchers the opportunity to showcase their research projects.

Dario Rodrigues, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Radiation Oncology department, placed first place in the poster category.  His poster summarized the work he has been doing to verify the use of Pyrexar's Hal.o applicator, a Non-Invasive, Non-Ionizing Radiation approach to produce a focused heat zone in the brain.

It has been demonstrated in a study published in the International Journal of Radiation Biology & Physics (Sneed, 1998 Survival benefit of hyperthermia in a prospective randomized trial of brachytherapy boost ± hyperthermia for glioblastoma multiforme) that hyperthermia can boost the effectiveness of radiotherapy when treating glioblastoma.  Pyrexar Engineering has been working on an applicator to provide focused hyperthermia under MR guidance for several years.  Dr. Rodrigues is currently developing a study protocol to begin animal studies. 

Join us in recognizing Dr. Rodrigues for his accomplishments.

According to the Global Cancer Observatory, the top three cancer indications in China are lung cancer, liver cancer, and stomach cancer. Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer in China, accounting for approximately 25% of all cancer cases. Liver cancer is the second most common type of cancer, accounting for around 19% of cases, and stomach cancer is the third most common, accounting for about 8% of cases. These three types of cancer are a significant public health concern in China and are a major focus of cancer research and treatment in the country.

Recently, Ray Lauritzen, the VP of Service at Pyrexar Medical, visited several hospitals in China to observe the use of the BSD-2000 hyperthermia system. This system uses heat to target cancer cells and has been shown to be an effective complementary therapy to traditional treatments. Its adoption in China is growing and for good reason.

In addition to the use of hyperthermia, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is also an important aspect of cancer treatment in the country. It is based on the idea that the body is a complex system of interconnected parts that work together to maintain health and well-being.

Traditional therapies such as acupuncture and herbal remedies are often used with modern Western treatments to help patients manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life. With modern hospitals and skilled medical professionals, China is well-positioned to provide comprehensive and effective cancer care to its citizens.

A special thank you to the team at Dailan Orientech Co.,Ltd. for hosting the tours and continuing to expand hyperthermia throughout the region.

Great news! We are excited to share that our CE mark for Pyrexar Medical's product line of RF Hyperthermia Systems, including the BSD-500 Superficial/Interstitial Hyperthermia System, the BSD-2000, BSD-2000 3D and BSD-2000 3D/MR Deep Regional Hyperthermia System, has been renewed.

Although this may not come as a surprise to some, we wanted to highlight that the process of receiving this certification has become much more rigorous under the new EU MDR (European Union Medical Device Regulation 2017/745) framework. This was necessary to ensure a more robust, transparent, sustainable, and predictable regulatory framework and improve the overall level of health and safety of medical devices, while still supporting innovation in the industry.

We understand that this has resulted in many medical device manufacturers withdrawing products from the European Union, but at Pyrexar Medical, we believe that the benefits of hyperthermia are important for patients worldwide. We are committed to continuing to bring these benefits to the European Union and all parts of the world, and the rigorous process of receiving the CE marking is an important step in that direction.

Although the process was expensive and time-consuming, it was well worth it, and we are excited to continue to innovate and improve healthcare through our hyperthermia systems. Thank you for your support and trust in Pyrexar Medical.

The Hyperthermia European Adjuvant Trial (HEAT) was a study that involved 117 patients with pancreatic cancer. It was an open-label, multicenter trial with two groups: a control group and an adjuvant therapy group. The control group received only gemcitabine, a standard chemotherapy drug, while the adjuvant therapy group received gemcitabine along with cisplatin and hyperthermia, using the BSD-2000 3D Deep Regional Hyperthermia System.

Although the disease-free survival was slightly better in the group receiving hyperthermia (12.7 months) compared to the control group (11.2 months), the 5-year overall survival was much better in the hyperthermia group (28.4%) compared to the control group (18.7%). This is a significant increase compared to the 5-year overall survival rate for PDAC of ~20%.

Note: In the middle of the study, the standard of care was changed from gemcitabine to folfirinox, which prevented the population of the study from reaching the original target.

The study, "Regional hyperthermia with cisplatin added to gemcitabine versus gemcitabine in patients with resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: The HEAT randomised clinical trial" by Dr. Rolf Issles et al, was published in the European Journal of Cancer. [Eur J Cancer. 2022;181:155-165. doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2022.12.009]. A link to the abstract can be found here.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to announce the opening of the Tumor Hyperthermia Center and the installation of a Pyrexar BSD-2000 Deep Regional Hyperthermia System. The recent addition of a Mevion radiotherapy system makes this the first dual therapy, deep regional hyperthermia/proton center in Asia. 

The BSD-2000 Hyperthermia System is used to treat cancer tumors and aid radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments by raising the tumor micro-environment to 43˚C. This increase in temperature improves blood flow and perfusions, promotes immune modulation, prevents cancer cells from DNA repair and leads to cancer cell death.

The facility, located in the Guangdong Province, is a joint-venture between Jinshazhou Hospital and Australia's ICON Group. The University of Wollongong in New South Wales also collaborates with the center to provide medical physics research, training, and education.

A special thank you to the team at Orientech for their hard work and dedication in placing this system in the hospital.

After taking a two year break due to COVID restrictions, the CME accredited educational program offered by the University of Maryland, School of Thermal Oncology is now open for registration.

The last session drew an international crowd, including physicians from South Korea, Poland, and Japan, as well as prominent cancer centers here in the U.S. The feedback we received, and this was a five-star educational program, valuable to any member of a thermal oncology team.  Topics covered all aspects of practice management, patient treatment, physics, and workflow. Practice managers shared how adding thermal oncology to their services increased overall service revenue by over 19%.  This information is essential for centers that would like to add hyperthermia systems but require cost justification to receive purchase approval.

In 2022, the course will be held October 6th-7th in Baltimore Maryland. 
Registration is limited to 24 seats.

Pyrexar Medical continues to support educational outreach from organizations like the University of Maryland, Society of Thermal Medicine, European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology, and similar institutions that strive to move forward hyperthermia research in the treatment of cancer. The CME course outline can be found here.

On June 17, Tübingen University Hospital officially inaugurated its new BSD-2000 3D/MR Image-Guided Hyperthermia System (IGHT), supplied by Pyrexar Medical/Dr. Sennewald Medizintechnik GmbH/ and Philips Healthcare.

Image-Guided Hyperthermia uses live MRI images to verify optimal tumor temperature to ensure optimal radiosensitizing benefits of the therapy. This non-invasive approach allows the operator to move the thermal zone or adjust power output with a touchscreen interface.  The steering process avoids patient applicator repositioning or the interruption of treatment, improving workflow and thermal dose.

This state-of-the-art system will be shared by the Clinic for Radiation Oncology and the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology. In this way, it not only serves cancer treatment but will also be used for diagnostic imaging, primarily for pediatric radiology. 

The photo above shows those taking part in the celebrations: (left to right, Copyright Universitätsklinikum Tübingen/Janina Fischer) Prof. Dr. Daniel Zips (Director of the University Department of Radiation Oncology), Susanne Schäfer (MTA in radiology), Prof. Dr. Michael Bamberg (Chief Medical Director and Chairman of the Executive Board), Dr. Gerhard Sennewald (CEO), Prof. Dr. Konstantin Nikolaou (Director of the University Department of Radiology and of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology), Prof. Dr. Jürgen Schäfer (Head of Pediatric Radiology), and Thomas Richter of Philips GmbH.

The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University celebrated the opening of its thermal oncology center located in the Henan province of mainland China.  The hospital constructed a custom hyperthermia suite to house the BSD-2000 Deep Regional Hyperthermia system built by Pyrexar Medical.  First Affiliated has a long history of hyperthermic clinical research and plans to further pioneer its use, in addition to general clinical use for their cancer patients.

Often referred to as "the largest hospital in the world", First Affiliated offers 7,000 beds. Compare that to the largest medical center in the US, New York-Presbyterian at 2,678 and you get to understand the colossal scale of the facility.

The opening celebration included a presentation ceremony, lectures on hyperthermia in the treatment of cancer, and a tour of the facility, attracting physicians and medical professionals from the area.

What does that mean for the future of hyperthermia in China? Thermal therapy has long been accepted in Asia and is growing steadily. The prestige,  influence, and access of a medical facility of this magnitude is expected to result in accelerated demand for Pyrexar system installations throughout China.

A special thanks to the talented team at our distributor Dalian Orientech for their dedication to bringing the best in medical technology to the region.