The rationale for monitoring both skin and invasive temperatures in locoregional recurrent breast cancer patients treated with postoperative re-irradiation and superficial microwave hyperthermia exceeding 1 cm target depth.

Authors

Johannes Crezee, C Paola Tello Valverde, M Willemijn Kolff, H J G Desirée van den Bongard, Ben J Slotman, Akke Bakker, H Petra Kok

Published in

International journal of hyperthermia : the official journal of European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology, North American Hyperthermia Group. Volume 43. Issue 1. Pages 2732510. Epub Oct 06, 2026.

Abstract

Thermoradiotherapy at 40-43 °C is an effective treatment for locoregional recurrent (LRR) breast cancer patients. During hyperthermia temperature monitoring is often limited to skin temperatures, but their predictive value for achieving locoregional tumor control (LRC) remains unclear for tumor depths ≥1cm. This study compared predictive value of skin versus invasive intratarget temperatures.
We reported earlier the thermal dose-effect relationship in 112 patients with LRR breast cancer treated in 2010-2017 with postoperative re-irradiation (8 × 4 Gy/23 × 2 Gy) and 4-5 weekly hyperthermia sessions with 434 MHz microwave applicators. Bolus cooling enabled semi-superficial target depths (1-4 cm), thermocouple thermometry monitored both skin and intratarget temperatures. The present study analyzes relationships between LRC and average skin and intratarget median temperature T₅₀ and best session with highest median thermal dose CEM43T50 (cumulative equivalent minutes at 43 °C). Pearson correlation coefficient analysis evaluated correlation between intratarget and skin temperature parameters.
Average median skin and invasive temperatures were T₅₀ = 40.6 °C (Interquartile Range IQR 40.3-40.8) and T₅₀ = 40.7 °C (IQR 40.0-41.3), respectively, without association between skin and intratarget temperatures. Median CEM43T50 for skin and intratarget were 2.8 (IQR 2.0-4.3) and 7.2 min (IQR 3.4-15.9) in the best hyperthermia session, respectively. Twenty-four patients developed infield recurrences; median time-to-recurrence was 3.4 years (IQR 2.7-4.6 years). Univariate and multivariate analysis showed significant association of intratarget temperature parameters with LRC (p = 0.015; p = 0.021, respectively), but not for skin temperature parameters and LRC (p = 0.131; p = 0.215, respectively).
Temperature monitoring using both skin and invasive intratarget measurements is key for ensuring good quality superficial hyperthermia delivery for tumor depths ≥1cm.

PMID:
42836442
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 06 Oct 2026.

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