Researchers in the Division of Translational Radiation Sciences (DTRS) are working to elucidate the biologic bases underlying the effectiveness of heat in enhancing the therapeutic action of radiation in cancer.
Members
Jason K. Molitoris, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
Medical Director, UMMC
Director of the Hyperthermia Therapy Program
Department of Radiation Oncology
Dario Rodrigues, PhD (he/him)
Assistant Professor
Lead Hyperthermia Physicist
Department of Radiation Oncology
Research
Patients in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Maryland are already being treated with hyperthermia therapy for a range of cancers, including breast cancer with chest wall recurrence and other cancers near the skin surface. The heat sensitizes tumor cells to both radiation and chemotherapy. Other types of thermal treatments for cancer include hyperthermic interperitoneal chemotherapy, which uses heated chemotherapy in combination with surgery to treat cancers that have spread to the lining of the abdomen, and radiofrequency thermal ablation, used for the treatment of liver tumors.
DTRS researchers are looking at novel hyperthermia therapy applications and at the scientific bases that underlie the effectiveness of these treatments. Of special interest is the potential role of hyperthermia therapy in enhancing the effects of proton therapy. In 2016 Dr. Vujaskovic received the 2016 J. Eugene Robinson Award from the Society for Thermal Medicine for his contributions to hyperthermic oncology.