Radiofrequency hyperthermia and topical retinoic acid therapy in murine melanoma.

Malignant cells are known to be sensitive to increased temperature. The effects of hyperthermia (HT) on intradermally implanted S91 melanoma cells in syngeneic mice were investigated with a hand-held radiofrequency generator. The possible additive effects of topical retinoic acid (RA) in this system also were studied. Five millimeter diameter melanomas were treated with either HT alone, RA alone, or a combination of HT and RA and were then evaluated after 43 days and 59 days. Eighteen of 20 tumors treated with HT alone and all 20 melanomas treated with HT/RA were eradicated. RA alone caused complete regression in 11 of 19 treated tumors. It is concluded that radiofrequency HT is an effective treatment in intradermal murine melanoma and that the addition of RA does not significantly alter the outcome because of the extreme effectiveness of HT alone.