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To: sim1 who wrote (83)2/3/2000 11:34:00 AM
From: Micro-Selector  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 7143
 
Duke University Studies Define Therapeutic Role of Hyperthermia

COMPANY PRESS RELEASE
Thursday, February 3, 2000, 8:37 AM

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- BSD Medical Corp. (OTC Bulletin Board: BSDM - news) today announced that recently published Duke University research explains the important therapeutic role of hyperthermia to the medical community. "We have a library of literature demonstrating that hyperthermia works," commented Hyrum Mead, President of BSD Medical Corporation, "but the Duke studies show why hyperthermia is so effective in improving results from radiation and chemotherapy." The Duke report (as published in Int. J. Radiation Oncology Biol Phys, Nov. 1999) explains, "Hyperthermia has a long history and well-established rationale as adjuvant therapy for cancer in combination with radiation and/or chemotherapy. The clinical efficacy of hyperthermia has been reported in a number of Phase II trials and more recently in several Phase III studies in breast cancer, head and neck cancer, melanomas, cervical cancer, and central nervous system (CNS) malignancies."

The Duke study notes that some positive trials had been previously reported, including "the improved tumor oxygenation that appears to result from hyperthermia." According to a Duke University press release last April, "high oxygen levels are crucial for effective radiation therapy... because radiation kills tumor cells by forming oxygen radicals--highly reactive oxygen atoms that damage DNA." Further, the press release states that the effectiveness of chemotherapy can be hampered by low blood flow level, otherwise "the drugs might not be delivered efficiently throughout the tumor." While low oxygen levels, called "hypoxia," are known to exist in certain tumors, researchers were surprised to find in animal studies that "no tumor had stable oxygen levels." In fact "60 percent of their measurements demonstrated acute hypoxia."

This propensity to hypoxia in tumors explains why heat can be so damaging, as tumors frequently lack the blood supply system needed to efficiently dissipate heat, as compared to normal tissue. As a natural physiological reaction to heat, hyperthermia is known to induce increased blood flow response (as well as the tumor can respond). Blood flow in turn provides oxygenation, which is critical to the effectiveness of radiation therapy because radiation kills tumor cells by forming oxygen radicals. Further, chemotherapy depends on blood flow to deliver the drug efficiently throughout the tumor. As our understanding of cellular biology increases, the important place of hyperthermia as an adjunct to the primary cancer therapies is becoming more evident.

BSD Medical Corporation [BSDM] is the leading developer and manufacturer of hyperthermia systems for cancer therapy, and pioneered the non-surgical treatment of benign diseases of the prostate using microwave energy. For information on the Company, or to find hyperthermic oncology information sources and treatment centers, please visit the BSD Medical Corporation web site (www.bsdmc.com).

Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward looking statements, as that item is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties (detailed in the Company's findings with the Securities and Exchange Commission) that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimated results.

SOURCE: BSD Medical Corporation