Leading Journal Turns Up the Heat on Cutting-Edge Breast Cancer Treatment

NEW YORK, September 24, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --

- The International Journal of Hyperthermia is Marking Breast Cancer Awareness Month With a Timely Special Issue on the use of Hyperthermia as a Treatment for the Disease. The Journal's Publisher, Informa Healthcare, is Donating Money to Charity on Behalf of Every Free Article Download* From the Special Issue.

Hyperthermia, as its name suggests, involves raising body temperature and the treatment is used to fight disease. Research on the use of hyperthermia in fighting breast cancer has yielded impressive results in recent years and the International Journal of Hyperthermia has published a Special Issue which covers new treatment protocols, data on patient outcomes and information about this new reason for hope in the fight against breast cancer.

To mark the Special Issue on the role of hyperthermia in the treatment of breast cancer, the International Journal of Hyperthermia is donating $1 for each download* of the issue's free-access articles to a leading breast cancer charity.

"We are extremely excited about this Special Issue," explains Dr Joan Bull, Co-Guest Editor of the Special Edition. "Recent clinical trials have shown significantly improved patient outcomes with the addition of hyperthermia to the more traditional treatments of radiation and chemotherapy. This is very promising news for breast cancer patients, their families and their doctors."

"The timing of our Special Issue is perfect and we are helping to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month by making a donation for every download* from October through December to Susan G. Komen for the Cure(R)" explains Didi Peng, Senior Managing Editor of the International Journal of Hyperthermia at Informa Healthcare. "The entire Special Issue will also be available as free access during October."

Susan G. Komen for the Cure(R) is the world's largest breast cancer charity dedicated to education and research about causes, treatment and the search for a cure.

In the simplest terms, hyperthermia involves heating up the body - or an area of the body - on the basis that cancer cells are vulnerable to heat. The benefits are that it markedly improves patient outcomes without significant side effects.

Although recent research and development has resulted in considerable progress in the field, the treatment is by no means new. The first documented use of thermal therapy for breast cancer was more than 5,000 years ago, as chronicled in the Edwin Smith Papyrus. In this ancient Egyptian document, the history of breast cancer treatment begins with cauterisation of tumours found in the breast with an instrument known as 'the fire drill'.

Modern advancements in hyperthermia biology have led to refinements for individualised thermochemotherapy approaches to treatments as well as interesting potential for exploiting hyperthermia in conjunction with cancer vaccines.

"Our Special Issue starts with two comprehensive overviews of the use of superficial hyperthermia together with radiation for chest wall recurrence as well as in combination with radiation and chemotherapy for locally advanced breast cancer," explains Dr Ellen Jones, Co-Guest Editor of the Special Issue.

"Another article discusses the role of MR imaging for patient response to hyperthermia and we also have an update from the Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands, which is one of Europe's largest hyperthermia centres."

The technology for hyperthermia delivery and real time monitoring of thermal dose has undergone considerable progress in the last several years. New applications are reviewed, new opportunities for the refinement of treatments are discussed, and new data on patient outcomes are also covered in this International Journal of Hyperthermia Special Issue.

Interest in hyperthermia as a treatment for breast cancer has led to significant advances and research activity which, in turn, has had a significant impact on treatment protocol. Thanks to the volume of research and the impact of published articles, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) now includes hyperthermia in their Breast Cancer Guidelines as a treatment for recurrent cancer.

"The breadth of contributions from the authors in this issue highlights the tremendous progress that has occurred in the role of hyperthermia for the treatment of breast cancer," says Dr Bull. "This subject has garnered broad national and international interest in this cutting-edge treatment for one of the world's most high-profile and, unfortunately, prolific diseases."

To download an article from the International Journal of Hyperthermia Special Issue, please log onto: http://informahealthcare.com/toc/hth/26/7

A $1 for every article download* will be donated to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure(R) towards the search for a cure for breast cancer.

*This applies to a full text download of any article from the Special Issue (Volume 26 Issue 7) with a maximum donation of up to $1,500.00.

SOURCE Informa Healthcare