Hyperthermia and Immunotherapy Started with Coley’s Toxin

Sometimes referred as MBV for Mixed Bacterial Vaccine, Coley’s Toxin was the first attempt to use immunotherapy and hyperthermia against cancer.  William B. Coley MD, a bone surgeon at a New York Hospital from 1893 to 1936 developed interest when his first patient, a young girl died from metastatic sarcoma.

Coley reviewed files of the previous decade of cancer patients treated in the hospital and found 47 case reports in which concomitant infection (accompanied by fever) seemed to have caused the remission of otherwise incurable neoplastic malignancy. His first patients were injected with live cultures of streptococcus. He assessed their response and noticed improvements, especially with sarcoma patients.  He later improved his vaccine and treated his patients with a mixture of heat killed Streptococcus pyogenes and Serratia marcescens.

Coley found most tumors regressed regardless of their histological type and sarcomas responded better than carcinomas.  During the treatment sessions, temperatures of 104 F (40 C) to 104.5 F (40.2) for 24 to 36 hours were attempted but not achieved in every case.  This temperature range is currently considered “mild hyperthermia”.

In 1953, two pharmaceutical companies were producing different versions of Coley’s toxin. His daughter, Helen Coley Nauts documented 896 patients’ treatments as of 1969.  Coley’s toxin was again tested in 1980 using mice which showed 100% regression of tumors versus zero regression in controlled mice.

Cyrus Rafie, the Medical Physicist at the Center for Thermal Oncology, is one the most experienced user of hyperthermia worldwide with more than 25 years of experience in hyperthermia research and treatment delivery. He is a published expert and speaker in this field. Cyrus Rafie has been involved in hyperthermia treatments of more than 2,500 patients, totaling more than 12,000 treatment sessions. The patients were treated utilizing a variety of hyperthermia technologies such as ultrasound, microwave and localized current field, as well as using different techniques (deep, superficial, interstitial) to achieve the maximum result for each patient.  Cyrus Rafie can be reached at The Center for Thermal Oncology, (888) 580-5900, or www.ThermalOncology.com.

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The Center for Thermal Oncology is a hyperthermia cancer treatment center, where patients with cancer can optimize their cancer treatment by adding this modality.  Hyperthermia is a gentle heat treatment that has been clinically shown to improve treatment efficacy by over 44% without side effects. Hyperthermia treatments can be combined with radiation or chemotherapy, depending on your physician's recommendation for your cancer type and stage. Our treatments are FDA approved and covered by most insurance companies.  (888) 580-5900, or www.ThermalOncology.com.

ersus zero regression in controlled mice.

Hyperthermia increases the treatment response rate for some previously irradiated tumors by 44 percent more than radiation alone(2).

External hyperthermia has been successfully used to improve the response rate of radiation or chemotherapy. Many randomized and scientifically conducted research by respected scientists have shown that the response rate can be doubled when hyperthermia is combined with external beam radiation. External hyperthermia is generally used for superficial tumors that do not exceed 4 to 5 centimeter in depth.

Hyperthermia uses an external applicator, which is applied to the outside of patient’s body on or near the tumor. The applicator looks like a box and has a plastic water-filled bag at the bottom which will lie next to patient. In a typical external treatment, the patient lays on a therapy table so that he or she can be comfortably positioned for treatment. A physicist or therapists monitors the temperature to make sure the temperature of the tumor reaches the therapeutic temperature (106º to 110º Fahrenheit). The treatment time is generally between 30 minutes to 60 minutes.

Cyrus Rafie, the Medical Physicist at the Center for Thermal Oncology, is one the most experienced user of hyperthermia worldwide with more than 25 years of experience in hyperthermia research and treatment delivery. He is a published expert and speaker in this field. Cyrus Rafie has been involved in hyperthermia treatments of more than 2,500 patients, totaling more than 12,000 treatment sessions. The patients were treated utilizing a variety of hyperthermia technologies such as ultrasound, microwave and localized current field, as well as using different techniques (deep, superficial, interstitial) to achieve the maximum result for each patient.  Cyrus Rafie can be reached at The Center for Thermal Oncology, (888) 580-5900, or www.ThermalOncology.com.