The clinical benefit of hyperthermia in pancreatic cancer: a systematic review

AbstractObjective: In pancreatic cancer, which is therapy resistant due to its hypoxic microenvironment, hyperthermiamay enhance the effect of radio(chemo)therapy. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the validity of the hypothesis that hyperthermiaadded to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy improves treatment outcome for pancreatic cancerpatients.Methods and materials: We searched MEDLINE and Embase, supplemented by handsearching, for clinical studies involving hyperthermiain pancreatic cancerpatients. The quality of studies was evaluated using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicinelevels of evidence. Primary outcome was treatment efficacy; we calculated overall response rate and the weighted estimate of the population median overall survival (mp) and compared these between hyperthermiaand control cohorts.Results: Overall, 14 studies were included, with 395 patients with locally advanced and/or metastatic pancreatic cancerof whom 248 received hyperthermia. Patients were treate...