Turning up the heat on cancer
South African researcher Dr. Carrie Minnaar is preparing to roll out a hyperthermia cancer treatment program in public hospitals after successful clinical trials. The treatment uses controlled heat to increase the effectiveness of standard chemotherapy and radiation.
Why it matters
This innovation offers a cost-effective way to improve cancer survival rates in resource-constrained public health systems.
After more than a decade of research, testing and Africa’s only clinical trial of its kind, a cancer treatment that could dramatically improve the effectiveness of standard oncology care in South Africa’s public health system is poised for rollout.
The treatment is the work of Dr Carrie Minnaar, a South African researcher who has built her career in a niche few oncologists explore: using controlled heat to make cancerous tumours more responsive to standard cancer treatments.
Her doctoral research focused on improving outcomes for women with locally advanced cervical cancer in resource-constrained African settings — finding ways to achieve better results within the limits of public health-care resources.
The clinical trial found that the disease-free survival rate five years after treatment more than doubled, from 14% to 32%.
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