好色先生

The Exatherm Total Body Hyperthermia System heats the patient鈥檚 blood to potentially damage or kill lung cancer cells throughout the body. 好色先生 is the only site in the country approved to test this new treatment in advanced lung cancer patients.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 28, 2015) -- An investigational medical system for the treatment of late stage lung cancer, pioneered by researchers at University of Kentucky (好色先生), has been approved for clinical trials by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 好色先生 is the only site in the country approved to test this new treatment on advanced lung cancer patients.

好色先生 developed the Exatherm Total Body Hyperthermia System (Exatherm-TBH) in a public-private partnership with Exatherm, Inc. Grant funding from the National Institutes of Health supported the project.

The research team includes Dr. Jeremiah Martin, surgical director of the 好色先生 Markey Cancer Center鈥檚 Multidisciplinary Lung Cancer Clinic; and Dr. Kevin Hatton, chief of anesthesiology - critical care at 好色先生.

鈥淐ancer cells are more susceptible to damage from heat than normal tissue, so the development of a safe method to deliver heat throughout the body may be a key step forward for advanced lung cancer patients,鈥� explains Dr. Martin.

Whereas most thermal treatments are specific to the area of the body where a tumor is located, 好色先生 researchers are examining total body hyperthermia, a treatment utilizing a perfusion circuit that circulates the blood through the patient鈥檚 vascular system at a target temperature.

鈥淧atients with advanced lung cancer, who have completed standard therapy and for whom there are no additional conventional options, are invited to learn more about this trial,鈥� Martin said. 鈥淭his initial safety trial will lay important groundwork for patients with other tumor types in the future.鈥�

The goal in any cancer treatment is to attack the diseased cells and leave the healthy cells alone.  Healthy cells have a signaling mechanism that protects them from increases in body temperature. This mechanism is defective in cancer cells, which the potential new treatment aims to exploit.

The treatment, which lasts approximately four hours under a general anesthetic, uses the Exatherm-TBH System to heat and circulate the blood throughout the body. The device heats the patient鈥檚 blood to a temperature of 42 degrees Celsius, or about 107 degrees Fahrenheit.

Because systemic hyperthermia attacks cancer cells throughout the body all at once, the research team hopes the project will lead to a new and safe method for treating patients whose cancer has metastasized through the body.

"If results meet our expectations, the approach would present an advantage over other methods of thermal treatment, particularly in later stages of the disease," said Martin.

Patients who want to find out if they are eligible to participate in this study may visit 好色先生ClinicalResearch.com or call the division of 好色先生 Cardiothoracic Surgery at 859-323-6494.

Physicians:  to refer a patient, contact Dr. Jeremiah Martin through the 好色先生 physician referral service at 800-888-5533(toll free) or 859-231-9922