Heckel hyperthermia is a medical-grade whole-body hyperthermia system that raises core body temperature in a controlled, monitored way to make tumors more responsive to chemotherapy and immunotherapy. The Immunotherapy Institute is adding it to our integrative oncology program as a complement to our existing autologous cellular immunotherapy and targeted therapy protocols, not as a replacement for either.
Key Takeaways
- Heckel hyperthermia uses water-filtered infrared-A (wIRA) technology to raise core body temperature evenly, with continuous monitoring throughout the session.
- It is added alongside active cancer treatment. It does not replace chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or targeted therapy.
- A growing body of peer-reviewed research supports combining hyperthermia with both chemotherapy and immune checkpoint therapy across several cancer types.
- Candidacy is a medical determination made during case evaluation, not a standalone option a patient selects on their own.
What Is Heckel Hyperthermia?
Heckel hyperthermia is built by Heckel Medizintechnik, a German manufacturer that has specialized in whole-body hyperthermia systems since 1994. The technology uses water-filtered infrared-A (wIRA) radiation, a specific band of infrared energy that penetrates below the skin surface. Rather than just heating the skin, the absorbed heat is carried through the whole body by the bloodstream, producing an even, systemic rise in core temperature. Every session is temperature-monitored throughout, with the treatment team adjusting intensity and duration to the individual patient.
We already use Heckel hyperthermia in our Lyme program. Adding it to our oncology protocols applies the same established heating technology, with a different treatment target and a different combination of therapies, to cancer care.
How Whole-Body Hyperthermia Works with Cancer Treatment
Raising core body temperature into a controlled therapeutic range has several effects that are well documented in the hyperthermia research literature:
- It changes how tumor cells respond to treatment. Heat stresses cancer cells and can make them more vulnerable to the effects of chemotherapy.
- It activates heat shock proteins (HSPs). These proteins, released when cells are heated, help flag tumor cells for recognition by the immune system. This is part of what turns an immunologically “cold” tumor into one the immune system engages with more actively.
- It improves blood flow and oxygenation in tumor tissue, which can improve drug delivery and immune cell trafficking into the tumor itself.
- It promotes immunogenic cell death, a form of cell death that releases signals capable of recruiting and activating immune cells, in contrast to the “silent” cell death that leaves the immune system uninvolved.
- It can shift immune checkpoint activity. Research on hyperthermia combined with checkpoint-targeting therapies has found it can downregulate inhibitory checkpoint signals while upregulating immune-activating co-stimulatory molecules, alongside increased dendritic cell maturation and T cell infiltration into tumor tissue.
None of this happens in isolation from the rest of a patient's care. Hyperthermia is used as an added layer on top of active treatment. It is not a standalone therapy and is not a substitute for chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or any other core element of a treatment plan.
Why We're Adding It to Our Protocols
ITI's oncology program is built around combining therapies that work through different, complementary mechanisms: metronomic-dose targeted therapy alongside autologous cellular immunotherapy (dendritic cells, NK cells, and activated lymphocytes built from the patient's own blood sample). Hyperthermia fits directly into that model. It is positioned to help both components work better, not to replace either one.
You can read more about how we use heat therapy, including our systemic perfusion system, on our whole-body hyperthermia treatment page.
What the Research Shows
A growing body of peer-reviewed research supports combining hyperthermia with both chemotherapy and immunotherapy across multiple cancer types:
- A 2025 narrative review in Onco describes how regional and whole-body hyperthermia can make tumors more responsive to combined radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy by altering the tumor microenvironment, and summarizes reported outcomes across soft tissue sarcoma, cervical, pancreatic, and rectal cancers where hyperthermia was added to standard treatment (Fiorentini et al., Onco, 2025).
- A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis in Strahlentherapie und Onkologie, covering 782 rectal cancer patients across 12 studies, found that adding deep regional hyperthermia to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy was associated with meaningful pathologic response and long-term survival outcomes (Ademaj, Riesterer et al., 2024).
- A 2025 retrospective study in advanced cervical cancer found that adding hyperthermia to targeted therapy and chemoradiotherapy improved short-term response and reduced targeted-therapy-related side effects compared to targeted therapy without heat (Jia et al., Translational Oncology, 2025).
- A 2026 retrospective study in advanced squamous non-small-cell lung cancer found a significantly higher objective response rate when deep hyperthermia was added to a PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor plus chemotherapy, with no increase in treatment-related adverse events (Guo et al., Frontiers in Oncology, 2026).
- A 2026 review in Frontiers in Immunology details the mechanistic case for combining hyperthermia with immune checkpoint-targeting therapies, including its effects on dendritic cell maturation, macrophage polarization, and T cell infiltration (Li et al., 2026).
These studies describe results from their own patient populations and protocols. They are cited here as representative published research, not as a report of ITI's own outcomes or a promise of what any individual patient will experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Heckel hyperthermia?
Heckel hyperthermia is a whole-body hyperthermia system that uses water-filtered infrared-A (wIRA) technology to raise core body temperature in a controlled, continuously monitored way, with the goal of making tumors more responsive to other cancer treatments.
Does hyperthermia replace chemotherapy or immunotherapy?
No. Hyperthermia is used as an addition to active cancer treatment, not a substitute for chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or targeted therapy. At ITI it is incorporated alongside our existing protocols, not in place of them.
Is hyperthermia backed by research?
Yes. Peer-reviewed studies have evaluated hyperthermia combined with chemotherapy and immune checkpoint therapy across several cancer types, including cervical, rectal, and lung cancer. Results and study designs vary, and outcomes reported in published research are specific to those studies' own patient populations.
Who is a candidate for hyperthermia at ITI?
Whether hyperthermia is appropriate, and at what intensity, is a medical determination made as part of a patient's full case evaluation, alongside their diagnosis, prior treatment history, and current clinical picture. It is one tool available within an individualized protocol, not a standalone option.
Is hyperthermia safe?
Hyperthermia sessions are administered under continuous temperature monitoring, with intensity and duration adjusted to the individual patient. Suitability is assessed as part of each patient's medical evaluation.
How This Fits a Patient's Program
Whether hyperthermia is appropriate for a given patient, and at what intensity, is a medical determination made as part of that patient's overall case evaluation by our medical team, led in functional and integrative medicine by Dr. Ariel Perez Carbajal. It is one more tool available inside an individualized protocol, not an item on a menu.
If you are a current or prospective patient and want to know whether hyperthermia would be part of your program, that is a conversation for your care team during your evaluation. Request a free evaluation to get started.
Sources cited above are peer-reviewed publications referenced for general background on hyperthermia research; they describe outcomes from their own studies, not results specific to ITI patients.