ABSTRACT
The renewed interest in hyperthermia as a treatment for cancer has heightened the awareness of investigators that normal tissues respond to the effects of heat in a differential manner. The physiologic effects of hyperthermia on the liver are multiple. Whole-body hyperthermia was pursued as a cancer therapy by R. T. Pettigrew and Pettigrew et al. Hepatic damage was described following whole-body hyperthermia. The studies of heatstroke and whole-body hyperthermia indicate that heat alone can be injurious to the normal liver. Isolation-perfusion of the dog liver at elevated hepatic temperatures was reported by A. W. Boddie et al. Chemotherapy and hyperthermia have been applied to the liver to assess the hep-atotoxicity of combined modality therapy. Hyperthermia alone or with other therapy is a therapeutic option which could be offered to patients with unresectable hepatic malignancy. Regional hyperthermia of the liver delivered by isolation-perfusion is feasible. Hyperthermia is an effective tumoricidal agent in man and animals.
