High Temperature Hyperthermia in Breast Cancer Treatment

Globally, breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women, which comprises 23% of all female cancers that are newly diagnosed in more than 1.1 million women each year. Over 411 000 deaths result from breast cancer annually; this accounts for over 1.6% of female deaths from all causes. Hyperthermia also called thermal therapy or thermotherapy is a type of cancer treatment in which body tissue is exposed to high temperatures. Research has shown that high temperatures can damage and kill cancer cells, usually with minimal injury to normal tissues. Otherwise, ablation or high temperature hyperthermia is defined as the direct application of chemical or thermal therapies to a tumor to achieve eradication or substantial tumor destruction. Many ablation modalities have been used, including cryoablation, ethanol ablation, laser ablation, and radiofrequency ablation. The most recent development has been the use of microwave ablation in tumors. Furthermore, The use of breast cancer mammography screening has allowed detecting a greater number of small carcinomas and this has facilitated treatment by minimally invasive techniques. Currently, physicians test minimally invasive ablation techniques to determine if they will be acceptable substitutes for surgical removal of primary breast tumors. Therefore, numerical electromagnetic and thermal simulations are used to optimize the antenna design and predict heating patterns. A review of different hyperthermia ablative therapies, for breast cancer treatment is summarized in this work. Otherwise, advanced computer modeling in high hyperthermia treatment and experimental model validation will be referred to in this chapter.