A 47-year-old man has advanced cancer, and his tumor was 'heated to death'. What's going on?
Uncle Zhang, a native of Linyi, had been suffering from abdominal pain for more than a month or two . He went to the hospital for an examination and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer .
After that, the doctor performed surgery according to Uncle Zhang's condition, but the tumor in Uncle Zhang's body could not be completely removed . The disease has been tormenting Uncle Zhang, and Uncle Zhang often suffers from abdominal pain, fatigue, loss of appetite and other discomforts, and he has lost a lot of weight. Seeing Uncle Zhang like this, the family was very distressed, but there was nothing they could do.
By chance, the family heard that hyperthermia has a significant effect on cancer, so they went to the hospital with a mentality of giving it a try.
At this time , the doctor estimated that the uncle's survival period was not more than three months . According to Uncle Zhang's situation, he formulated an individualized treatment plan for him, which included chemotherapy combined with deep tumor hyperthermia.
After 1 course of treatment, Uncle Zhang's symptoms were significantly relieved , his stomach didn't hurt so much, his appetite improved, and he became more energetic. After 2 courses of treatment, the metastases were significantly reduced.
At present, Uncle Zhang has undergone 7 courses of chemotherapy and 30 times of deep hyperthermia . The condition gradually improved, the tumor shrunk significantly, and the tumor markers decreased significantly. Uncle Zhang and his family are very satisfied with the treatment effect and are currently preparing for the next course of treatment.
1. Can tumors be "heated to death"?
It is undeniable that cancer cells are more afraid of heat than normal cells. Respiratory doctor Hu Yang said that this is because the blood flow of cancer tissue is relatively rich, but the blood vessels inside the tumor are in a state of distortion and expansion, and the blood flow resistance is large. The vascular nerve receptors in the upper cancer tissue cannot sense the temperature very well, so if the tumor tissue is heated, the cancer tissue will have poorer heat dissipation due to poor blood circulation.
Studies have shown that when the surrounding tissue of a tumor is heated to 42.5 degrees, the surrounding normal tissue generally does not exceed 43 degrees Celsius, but the interior of malignant tumor tissue can reach 48 to 53 degrees . Heating at a constant temperature of 42°C to 45°C has a certain killing effect on cancer cells.
**It can be seen that tumors can indeed be "heated to death", and such a treatment method does exist in clinical practice— tumor hyperthermia .
What is hyperthermia? To put it simply, it uses physical energy to heat the whole body or part of the tumor with the help of advanced instruments and equipment, so that the temperature of the tumor lesion rises to an effective treatment temperature, and the tumor cells are ruptured, resulting in tumor cell apoptosis.
The therapy has a certain effect on lung cancer, liver cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, esophageal cancer, ovarian cancer and other cancers.
However, it should be reminded that hyperthermia is often only used as an adjuvant treatment method , and usually needs to be combined with chemotherapy, radiotherapy and other treatments to improve the anti-cancer effect.
Therefore, for hyperthermia, we should treat it rationally and not deify it.
2. PNAS: Fever may help fight tumors
When an infection occurs, fever is often one of the symptoms.
The medical community believes that fever can promote the migration of adaptive immune T cells to the site of infection and differentiate into effector T cells . The effector T cells will secrete a large number of cytokines and cytotoxic molecules, and these secreted products have the effect of inhibiting pathogens and resisting tumors. But the mechanism of action remains a mystery.
The professor and team at the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Germany may have found some secrets. They believe that fever will enhance the mitochondrial mass and metabolic activity of CD8+ effector T cells, improve the translation ability of mitochondria, and then Enhance the cancer-fighting ability of this cell. The research results have been published in the authoritative medical journal PNAS.
The researchers took in vitro cell culture experiments to activate CD8+ T cells cultured in vitro at 37°C and 39°C, respectively. The results found that CD8+ T cells activated at 39°C can secrete more cells. Factors and mitochondrial mass were significantly increased.
Since then, mouse experiments have been carried out and results consistent with in vitro cell experiments have been obtained.
The researchers adopted the activated T cells into myeloid leukemia mice and observed the survival rate and found that the survival rate of leukemia mice that received CD8+ T cells at 39°C was significantly improved.
This study provides more thinking for cancer clinical treatment, and perhaps in the future, it can be used as one of the adjuvant cancer treatment methods by appropriately raising body temperature.
3. Is it reliable to kill cancer cells by raising body temperature?
Although tumor cells are afraid of heat, it is unrealistic to try to kill tumors by making people feverish to 43 degrees Celsius.
Because many people may have overlooked one point, that is, people have a fever. Once the body temperature exceeds 40°C, if it lasts for more than 10 minutes, it may have a certain impact on various organs, causing water, electrolyte, and acid-base balance disorders, causing febrile convulsions and cerebral edema. , Multiple organ failure, etc.
Therefore, don't expect to kill tumors through fever. The result of such an approach is often that cancer cells may not be scalded to death, and people may die first.
In the same way, fire roasting, sweat steaming, hot bathing and other methods cannot kill tumors, so don't blindly try.
Some people say that people who never have a fever are prone to cancer. Is there any scientific reason for this?
In this regard, Wang Dongxu, Department of Geriatrics, Nanjing Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, said: People who often catch colds and fever indicate that their immune function is poor and the chance of getting sick is higher. On the contrary, if there are few colds and fevers, it means that the immune function of the body is relatively stronger, which is a good phenomenon, but it is not directly related to the risk of cancer.
Summary: Regular hyperthermia is indeed a "good helper" for fighting cancer cells, and it has few side effects, is easy to tolerate, and has a wide range of applications. Before using hyperthermia, be sure to consult a professional physician to see if it is suitable for you, and do not blindly try it yourself, so as to avoid serious consequences.
References:
[1] "PNAS: Fever may help fight tumors! Scientists find that fever can enhance the function of effector T cells, raising body temperature or helping to enhance anti-tumor immunity | Scientific Discovery". Singularity Network. 2021-06-30
[2] "Heat can kill cancer cells, but it is not advisable to kill tumors by heating the human body. This is how hyperthermia is done". Respiratory doctor Hu Yang. 2019-10-11
[3] "People who don't catch a cold for a long time are more likely to get cancer? tell you the truth! 》. Family Doctor Online. 2022-01-29
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