Since the time of the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, cancer has been recognized as being sensitive to heat. Today, this principle forms the basis of hyperthermia treatment—a promising cancer therapy that uses controlled heat to kill tumor cells while sparing healthy ones.

Unlike chemotherapy or radiation, hyperthermia works by heating cancerous tissue to temperatures around 50°C, causing cancer cell death while simultaneously activating the body’s immune system against the tumor. This approach holds particular promise when combined with immunotherapy, as heat-killed cancer cells can trigger a stronger anti-tumor immune response.

However, a few major challenges have limited hyperthermia’s clinical success. One of the main hurdles is the limited understanding of the biological mechanisms behind heat sensitivity in cancer cells. Researchers have discovered that some cancer cells—even those from the same organ—react differently to heat shock, with some surprisingly more heat-resistant than others.