6-8 November 2024, Malaga, Spain

Endorsed by ESTRO

Hyperthermia as a tumour treatment, which involves the elevation of tumour temperatures to 40-43°C, has pleiotropic effects on tumour cells and is a powerful tumour-selective radiosensitiser that can be used to maximise the efficacy of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The use of hyperthermia has achieved excellent cytotoxic effects when combined with radiotherapy or chemotherapy, as has been proved in randomised clinical trials. Hyperthermia can be delivered non-invasively through the use of radiofrequency or microwave antennas for both superficial and deep-seated tumours, and with hyperthermic intravesical or intraperitoneal chemotherapy techniques for bladder cancer or for peritoneal metastases. Novel treatment combinations such as immunotherapy and magnetic nanoparticles are under investigation.

Tumour biology, technical progress, quality assurance and clinical results will be discussed at the annual meeting of the European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology (ESHO) in Malaga, Spain, in November. ESHO 2024 will be attended by participants from around the world who represent all disciplines involved in clinical hyperthermia (clinicians, biologists and physicists). This multidisciplinary meeting is intended to cause cross-pollination among all relevant disciplines, and most sessions will be plenary to encourage this interaction.

ESHO 2024 starts with a day of education, which will be followed by scientific sessions. Major topics include the presentation and discussion of study protocols for new clinical trials that should lead to new multi-centre (randomised) clinical trials. Recent biological results will be presented and should offer insights into optimal treatment delivery. New technical approaches and advanced treatment-planning techniques will be presented and discussed. These discussions should open opportunities for the application of hyperthermia at so-far untested tumour sites. New European quality assurance guidelines for treatment delivery will be discussed and adopted under the seal of ESHO.

The European hyperthermia networks that are provided by ESHO (https://www.esho.info/), the Atzelsberg circle (https://atzelsbergerkreis.de/) and the Hyperboost consortium (https://hyperboost.eu/) will be represented. Manufacturers will exhibit the latest hyperthermia devices. The conference is co-organised by the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology and the Spanish Medical Physics Society. ESHO 2024 is endorsed by ESTRO.

Detailed information on the programme and registration can be found at: https://esho-congress.eu/