**1.1. Historical way – To go or not to go?**

Hyperthermia means the overheating of the living object completely (systemic) or partly (regionally or locally). If overheating can be identical with higher temperature then a/the question arises: could overheating be identical with higher temperature or could "higher temperature" be caused only by "overheating"?

Hyperthermia is one of the most common therapies in "house" applications. It is applied according to unwritten traditions in every culture and in every household. It can be applied simply to prevent the common cold but it is also good for its treatment moreover it is effective against various pains (joints, muscle-spasms, etc.), it can be applied for better overall conditions and simply for relaxation, or sometimes for spiritual reasons. The various heat therapies are commonly used complementary with natural drugs (teas, herbs, oils, aromas, etc.) or with natural radiations (sunshine, red-hot iron radiation, etc.) This popular medicine is sometimes connected with ritual, cultural and social events (ritual hot bath cultures), or ancient healing methods (like special spa treatments, hot-spring natural drinks, etc.).

Hyperthermia has two certainly different fields in medicine: hyperthermia as a treatable disease or as a therapeutic method for various diseases (see Figure 1.)

The source of whole body temperature increase as a disease can be internal, having fever by reaction to infections [1] or pyrogens [2] or malignant hyperthermia [3] as well. These whole-body "heating" processes differ also in their systemic reaction. The natural fever is induced by the living system [4], while the system works against the compulsory metabolic heating and tries to keep the temperature normal. Whole-body hyperthermia can be induced by external heating as well [5]. This happens in hot environments when the body is not able to cool itself down, although the system fights against the increase of its

temperature. This whole-body heating can be unwanted, mainly accidental from environmental sources, and it might be accelerated by additional heavy muscular work or by extra metabolic activity. This is a life-threatening situation with the danger of a heatstroke [6]. Hyperthermia requests definite and effective medical treatment when it appears as a disease, having elevated body temperature and the patient suffers from its serious consequences. This medical intervention applies therapies to reestablish the normal temperature of the body keeping the healthy homeostasis (overall stability) and handling the consequences of the unwanted high body temperature.

Local Hyperthermia in Oncology – To Choose or not to Choose? 3

Many ancient cultures used heat to treat diseases and to maintain health. The thermal baths for their curative properties were used by the Greeks, the pre-Christian Jews and the Romans too [8]. The Chinese treated many diseases including syphilis and leprosy by hot spring baths [9]. Taking regular, extremely hot baths from infancy is the block of developing

Naturally, this treatment had a sacral meaning in historic times, regarding the Sunlight, the fire and the heat as parts of the leading spiritual object in all ancient religions. This belief was behind when the heat was applied to locally affected parts of the body and to its entirety by means of hot water, steam, hot sand and hot mud baths. Natural hot air caverns connected with volcanic sources were also used. By the development of the medical knowledge, more and more heat applications were applied in practice. Later Hippocrates documented it [10], and he was convinced of its overall efficacy, telling when hyperthermia (fire) does not help, then the disease has to be declared as incurable. Hippocrates said: "Give me the power to produce fever and I will cure all diseases". His followers in line were Aurelius Cornelius Celsus and Rufus of Ephesus, who believed in the curative effect of fever. The progress continued in the Middle Ages [11], when the ablation techniques (burn out the tumor) and hot-bathes dominated the hyperthermia practices, while the temperature

 The first clinical thermometer was introduced only later by Sir Clifford Allbutt in 1868. This was the start of the modern history of heat-therapies. The controllable era of hyperthermia was started. The temperature measurement made it possible to control the homogeneous heating and to make correlations with various physiological changes,

Increased heat- and field-stress reactions (mainly the developments of heat-shock-

rheumy, according to the ancient Japanese medical notes.

measurement was worked out step by step.

Increased rate of nerve conduction,

 Possible changes in enzyme reactions, Increased soft tissue extensibility,

 Increased venous and lymphatic flow, Changes in physical properties of tissues,

Increased intramuscular metabolism,

Increased tissue extensibility,

 Lymphedema reduction, Superficial wound healing, Treatment of venous ulcers,

Relieving pain, analgesia,

Elevation of pain threshold, altering muscle strength,

Supporting muscular relaxation, reduced muscle spasm,

 Assistance in removal of cellular debris and toxins, Alteration of diffusion rate across the cell membrane,

like:

proteins),

**Figure 1.** Main categories of hyperthermia

The popular heat-treatment applications are types of "kitchen medicine": the old recipes are "sure", the patient follows them, and is cured when everything is done according to the auricular traditional regulations. The meaning of "kitchen medicine" is: do it like in the kitchen, reading the process from the cookery-book: "heat it on the prescribed temperature for the prescribed time and the success is guaranteed". This type of thinking has its origin in the ancient cultures, when the Sun - the fire, the heat - was somehow in the centre of the religious beliefs and philosophical focus.

This idea of "take it for sure" is the disadvantage of the popular wisdom. It interprets this heating method as a simple causal process, "do it, get it", however, hyperthermia is not as simple as traditions interpret it.
