Targeted Hyperthermia
Local-Regional Hyperthermia
Local-regional hyperthermia delivers focused heat directly to tumor sites, damaging cancer cells while preserving surrounding healthy tissue. It is one of the most effective methods for enhancing the impact of conventional cancer treatments.
What Is Local-Regional Hyperthermia?
Local-regional hyperthermia (LRH) is a targeted heat treatment that raises the temperature of a specific tumor or body region to between 40 and 44 degrees Celsius. Unlike whole-body hyperthermia, LRH focuses energy precisely on the affected area.
This selective heating damages cancer cell membranes, disrupts their ability to repair DNA, and makes them more vulnerable to chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
How Does It Work?
Using electromagnetic energy delivered through specialized applicators placed on the body surface, heat is directed deep into the tissue where the tumor is located. The system allows precise targeting and temperature control.
The treatment is non-invasive and painless for most patients. Temperature monitoring ensures the target zone reaches therapeutic levels while surrounding tissue remains unaffected.
What Conditions Does It Treat?
- Solid tumors (breast, liver, pancreas, lung, pelvic tumors)
- Recurrent or treatment-resistant cancers
- Tumors requiring enhanced chemotherapy or radiation response
Could this belong in your plan?
That depends on your findings, not on the therapy. Send what you have with a short history; a physician reads it before the video call and tells you whether this treatment belongs in your program.
What a session feels like
- Before You lie down and the applicator is placed over the area to be treated. No anesthesia is needed.
- During About 60 minutes. Most people describe a deep, spreading warmth in the treated region, a little like lying in the sun with a blanket over you. A nurse is nearby throughout.
- Afterwards You stand up and go on with your day. Sessions are usually two to three times a week within a multimodal program.
Evidence & Safety
Local-regional hyperthermia is one of the most extensively researched forms of hyperthermia. Multiple randomized controlled trials have demonstrated improved tumor response rates and survival when LRH is added to chemotherapy or radiation. It is included in treatment guidelines from the European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology (ESHO).
Request a consultation
A video consultation in English before you travel. A physician reviews your findings first; we reply by email within one business day (Mon–Fri).
Mon–Thu 08:00–17:00, Fri 08:00–14:00 (CET/CEST)+49 8061 398-0info@clinicum-stgeorg.de
St. George Hospital is a specialist hospital, not an emergency department. In a medical emergency in Germany, dial 112.