A Topical Review of Magnetic Fluid Hyperthermia

Introduction The human body naturally uses heat to fight disease. For example, viruses and bacteria proliferate at normal body temperatures, so the body instinctively defends itself by increasing its temperature several degrees to slow the rapid multiplication of such disease-causing agents. This phenomenon, commonly called a fever, gives the body an advantage while fighting the infection. Fevers form one subset of hyperthermia, an abnormally high body temperature. Hyperthermia also refers to body temperatures elevated for therapeutic reasons. The use of hyperthermia to treat cancer has been a recent topic of research. Magnetic fluid hyperthermia offers particularly promising capabilities for treating several types of cancer.