In recent decades, hyperthermia has been used to raise oxygenation levels in tumours undergoing other therapeutic modalities, of which radiotherapy is the most prominent one. It has been hypothesized that oxygenation increases would come from improved blood flow associated with vasodilation. However, no test has determined whether this is a relevant assumption or other mechanisms might be acting. Additionally, since hyperthermia and radiotherapy are not usually co-administered, the crucial question arises as to how temperature and perfusion in tumours will change during and after hyperthermia. Overall, it would seem necessary to find a research framework that clarifies the current knowledge, delimits the scope of the different effects and guides future research. Here, we propose a simple mathematical model to account for temperature and perfusion dynamics in brain tumours subjected to regional hyperthermia. Our results indicate that tumours in well-perfused organs like the brain might only reach therapeutic temperatures if their vasculature is highly disrupted. Furthermore, the characteristic times of return to normal temperature levels are markedly shorter than those required to deliver adjuvant radiotherapy. According to this, a mechanistic coupling of perfusion and temperature would not explain any major oxygenation boost in brain tumours immediately after hyperthermia.

近几十年来，热疗已被用于提高正在经历其他治疗方式的肿瘤中的氧合水平，其中放射疗法是最突出的一种。假设氧合增加将来自与血管舒张相关的改善的血流。但是，没有测试可以确定这是一个相关的假设还是其他机制可能正在起作用。此外，由于通常不同时使用热疗和放射疗法，因此出现了一个关键问题，即在热疗期间和之后，肿瘤的温度和灌注将如何变化。总体而言，似乎有必要找到一个阐明当前知识，界定不同影响范围并指导未来研究的研究框架。这里，我们提出了一个简单的数学模型来说明经受局部热疗的脑肿瘤中的温度和灌注动力学。我们的结果表明，如果大脑的血管系统受到高度破坏，则在灌注良好的器官（如大脑）中的肿瘤可能只会达到治疗温度。此外，恢复正常温度水平的特征时间明显短于进行辅助放疗所需的时间。据此，在热疗后，灌注与温度的机械耦合不能解释脑肿瘤中任何主要的氧合作用增强。恢复正常温度水平的特征时间明显短于进行辅助放疗所需的时间。据此，在热疗后，灌注与温度的机械耦合不能解释脑肿瘤中任何主要的氧合作用增强。恢复正常温度水平的特征时间明显短于进行辅助放疗所需的时间。据此，在热疗后，灌注与温度的机械耦合不能解释脑肿瘤中任何主要的氧合作用增强。