Mini Review: Hyperthermia Treatment for Bone Cancers

Abstract

Bone is one of the most common sites for metastasis. Approximately 350,000 people die in the United States every year from bone metastases [1]. The most common site of bone metastases is the axial skeleton, with the lumbar region being the most frequently impacted site [2]. Bone cancer can lead to bone pain, hypercalcemia, spinal cord compression and bone fracture, decreasing the quality of life of cancer patients [3]. The most common treatments for bone cancers are surgical resection, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Hyperthermia is another type of cancer treatment that is generally used for advanced cancers, in combination with radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Clinical trials have shown that hyperthermia reduces the size of tumours, enhancing the effect of radiation or anticancer drugs [4]. Hyperthermia affects both molecular and cellular levels. Alterations to the cytoskeleton and the cell membrane, as well as impairment of protein, Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) and Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) synthesis, inhibition of DNA repair enzymes, altered gene expression and protein denaturation, unfolding and aggregation [5-7] are all changes caused by hyperthermia.