Hyperthermia and the Immune System
Hyperthermia makes the immune system become actively engaged against tumors and induces anti-tumor immunity, creating a type of “personalized” treatment approach.
Hyperthermia is a treatment that can kill cancer cells through several mechanisms, make chemotherapy and radiotherapy work better, and stimulates an immune attack against the targeted lesion(s).
Hyperthermia in Cancer Care
Heating tumor cells creates damaged and unfolded proteins on their surfaces which make these cells recognizable by the innate immune system
These damaged proteins on the cell surfaces of tumor cells look very different than healthy cells, which alerts the immune system
Innate cells (such as Natural killer cells (NK) and granulocytes) are signaled and immediately sent to the tumor, recognizing these damaged and unfolded proteins
These NK cells and macrophages then activate dendritic cells (DC)
DC’s present the heat damaged proteins “collected” by the NK cells and macrophages to T cells (from the Adaptive Immune System)
Hyperthermia also promotes the maturing and migration of these DCs to the lymph nodes
In the lymph nodes the T cells become “activated” or “educated” against these unfolded proteins on heated cancer cells.
The activated T cells are called Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes which attack and kill tumor cells
This immune response is probably the main reason for the “bystander effect” or “Abscopal effect” of hyperthemia, which results in improvement in tumors in distant areas from the treatment site, a phenomenon noted in many hyperthermia studies
These hyperthermia-induced immune responses against the tumor can be thought of as hyperthemia “in situ tumor vaccination.” The point is that heat makes cancer cells look distinct from healthy cells, and attract an immune response that is both immediate and long-lasting. This is exciting and incredibly interesting.
ABOUT THE CENTER FOR INTEGRATIVE HEALING & WELLNESS
Dr. Fabio Almeida M.D. ABOIM, ABNM, ABOM is the founder and director of the Center for Integrative Healing & Wellness at the CIVANA Carefree Resort. Dr. Fabio is a triple board-certified physician with expertise in Integrative & Functional Medicine/Oncology, Molecular Imaging and Obesity. He served as an Assistant Professor of Radiology & Radiation Oncology, and subsequently as the Director of Molecular Imaging for the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson Arizona. Dr. Fabio is a fellow of the Integrative Medicine Program at the University of Arizona, where he acquired expertise in integrative medicine, herbal medicine, nutrition, fitness, acupuncture, and stress management. He is published in several peer-reviewed journals and book chapters in radiology, oncology, cardiology, nutrition, and information science.
At the Center, Dr. Fabio and his team offer Concierge Integrative Oncology, Focal and Whole Body Hyperthermia, Sono-Photodynamic Therapy, Immunotherapy, IV nutrient Therapy and a wide variety of additional personalized treatments.