PhD Scientific Days 2026

Poster Session 3.J - Theoretical and Translational Medicine

Water-cooling System and Temperature Set up Effect on Modulated Electro-Hyperthermia Efficiency in Treating 4T1 Triple Negative Breast Cancer Mouse Model

Name of the presenter

Abdalla, Qusay Osman Mohamed

Institute/workplace of the presenter

Institute of Clinical Pathophysiology, Semmelweis University.

Authors

Qusay Osman Mohamed Abdalla¹, Dániel Bócsi², Hakim Bahlok Jebur², Mohamed I. Elsalahaty², Eslam Abdalalem², Yibo Gu², Ebsa Tofik Ahmed², Mingming He², Csaba András Schvarcz², Péter Hamar²
1: Institute of Clinical Pathophysiology, Semmelweis University.
2: Semmelweis University, Institute of Clinical Pathophysiology, 1094 Budapest, Tűzoltó u. 37-47.

Text of the abstract

Introduction
Modulated electro-hyperthermia (mEHT) is a selective cancer therapy that applies radiofrequency to induce targeted tumor cell destruction. The clinical setup uses cooling system that has been implemented recently to the rodent model (LabEHY) to improve treatment efficiency and minimize side effects. In mEHT the tumor core temperature reached 42–42.5 °C, with a 2–2.5 °C gradient between the skin and the tumor core.
Aims
To evaluate the impact of the new cooling system and optimize temperature settings.
Method
In a pilot study, 12 BALB/c mice bearing orthotopic 4T1 tumors were grouped according to tumor size into: 50, 100, 200, 400 mm3 tumor volume groups. The new colling system was used at different cooling temperatures: 25, 30, and 37 °C, while varying surface temperatures to identify conditions that achieved a tumor core temperature of 42 -42.5 °C or maintained + 2-2.5 °C difference between skin surface and tumor core.
In the full experiment, another 30 mice were assigned as: Sham, mEHT, mEHT+colling with 25 °C, mEHT+colling with 30 °C, mEHT+colling with 37 °C, These cooling settings were determined to represent the clinical setting, intermediate, physiological temperature, corresponding to predominantly non-thermal, balanced, and predominantly thermal mEHT effect respectively.
Results
Optimal surface temperature depended on tumor size. A surface temperature of 40–40.2 °C achieved the target + 2–2.5 °C gradient in 100–200 mm³ tumors. Smaller tumors required slightly higher surface temperatures (40.2–40.5 °C), whereas larger tumors (≥400 mm³) required lower surface temperatures (38.8–39 °C) to maintain the desired gradient.
mEHT with or without cooling system (25,30,37C) significantly reduced tumor volume compared to controls (p < 0.0001), (p < 0.0001), (p < 0.0001), and (p = 0.0035) respectively, while using the cooling system at 25 °C significantly decreased treatment-related skin burns (p= 0.0044). further immunohistochemistry and gene expression analysis are ongoing to characterize tumor microenvironmental differences, as thermal and nonthermal mechanism of mEHT may contribute to the observed effects.
Conclusion
The cooling system improves mEHT treatment in terms of reducing side effects.
Tumor size affects core temperature, requiring size-adjusted mEHT settings.
Funding: SE250_2026-8. OTKA_K 145998, Stipendium Hungaricum PhD scholarship.