A brief summary of the milestones in the development of the Oncotherm company and Oncothermia.
2018
More new publications appeared
A new report film was broadcasted about Oncotherm on a Hungarian TV channel.
The 36th ICHS Conference was held in Budapest, Hungary with about 120 oncological experts from all around the world.
Oncotherm participated at several conferences like European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology (ESHO 2018), European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO 37), trade fair for the medical industry (MEDICA 2018).
New publications appeared thanks to Oncothermia users.
2017
A new age
Oncotherm has sold more than 400 devices worldwide and more than 200.000 treatments are performed every year.
To meet the requirements of this success the company intensified its marketing activity with a new marketing division based in Budaörs.
The new device EHY-2030 is presented at the ESHO conference in Athens, Greece and a new website is created.
The tender “Improving the efficiency of the electromagnetic tumour therapy device and the preparation for its integration into commercial use” lead by Semmelweis University received a grant of 1.472 billion forints as part of the Hungarian Competitiveness and Excellence Programme. The project is realised in a consortium of Semmelweis University and Oncotherm Kft, which has taken part in the development of oncothermia.
Board inauguration was at the Outsourcing Department of Biotechnics of Szent István University at Oncotherm Kft. in Budaörs.
2016
International presence
Oncotherm was sponsor and exhibitor at the large ESMO Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark and made many new and important contacts.
Dr. Carrie Minnaar started to support Oncotherm not only as distributor and study supervisor, but also as clinical consultant for medical questions of users and patients.
Distributor Hospicare Co., LTD. from South Korea sold their 100th device.
2013
ICHS Conference in China
The ICHS Conference was organized by the new president Prof. Clifford LK Pang. Oncotherm was on site with talks and a booth.
2012
International Clinical Hyperthermia Society
Prof. Dr. András Szász was elected as president of the International Clinical Hyperthermia Society (ICHS) and hosted the important annual conference that in 2012 took place in Budapest, Hungary. http://www.ichs-conference.org
2011
The Oncothermia Book
Together with his children Dr. Nora Iluri and Dr. Olivér Szász Prof. Dr. András Szász published the book "Oncothermia: Principles and Practices" in the famous Springer publishing house. http://www.springer.com/de/book/9789048194971
2010
A year of great success
In 2010 Prof. Dr. András Szász officially handed over his tasks as CEO of the company to his son Dr. Olivér Szász. He retrieved from the daily business to concentrate on science topics and still supports the company as scientific leader.
Following a long tradition of yearly Oncotherm events for German doctors in 2010 the first International Oncothermia Symposium took place in Cologne, Germany. The conference was visited by interested experts from all over the world and presented a large variety of interesting talks. http://www.io-symposium.com
Also in this year the first issue of the Oncothermia Journal (ISSN 2191-6438) was published. From this on Oncotherm has published three issues of this magazine every year. http://www.oncothermia-journal.com
The close co-operation between the companies has been the basis of the company ever since and is presented in a common quality management system established in 2010.
2008
EHY-3010ML
A new device was released: The EHY-3010ML. This device includes the technical modules in the treatment bed, so that the separate tower is no longer needed. It can be used for treating metastases and works with modern textile electrodes that can be produced in all shapes and sizes.
2007
Mammatherm Study
The large Mammatherm Study was started at the University of Munich, Germany under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Sommer and showed well the great results of Oncothermia. Several more studies were following in Germany and abroad.
2002
The German Oncotherm GmbH
The German Oncotherm GmbH was founded in Troisdorf close to Cologne. From this time on the German office has been responsible for sales, marketing, device maintenance and repairs. The Hungarian branch has been taken care of the production and development. The EHY-2000 was the product sold most at that time. This device was later on upgraded to the EHY-2000plus. Also the EHY-1000 family was developed for the treatment of prostate diseases using special catheters.
In the following years Oncotherm sold many devices in Germany and could find successful partners for selling the devices in Germany and all over the world.
1998
The EHY family
The non-invasive equipment family named EHY was making intensive progress from 1990, gained GS certification in 1995 and received CE approval in 1998. The EHY devices can be used to treat all solid tumours.
1994
ECT Device
The first device, which was still using invasive electrodes (and which was usable only for the treatment of near-surface and small tumours) was soon replaced by a greater (but still invasively acting) device family named ECT (Electro-Cancer-Treatment) which was certified by TÜV München in 1994 and then gained GS certification.
1990
The success was better than expected
As a result, the first device utilizing electric field for the destruction of tumorous tissues and suitable to human treatment was made under the product name of CTT. The device was applied at patients with no other treatment alternative, as in these cases every well-known and applicable procedure had been earlier exhausted. The success was better than expected, since in spite of the advanced state of illness of patients significant tumour regression had been achieved in most cases. The private hospital of Dr. Douwes in Bad Aibling, Germany (he hired 17 beds in a hotel, and was the first one who applied the development results) developed quickly and achieved a good international reputation.
1988
The company was founded
The company was founded by Dr. András Szász, physicist professor, under the name of Felülettechnológiai Kutató Kft. This was one of the first registered limited-liability private companies in Hungary. The objective of the foundation of the company was to implement the invention ideas of the professor, as well as to start the production and market realization of devices.
The inventions and work of Prof. Dr. Szász were linked to the results of surface physics, his activity concentrated primarily on the creation of different functional layers on the basis of the examination of non-equilibrium bonding states (such as formation of catalytic active, corrosion- and wear-resisting, electronic thin film diffusion barrier and metastable phases close to the surface by treatments etc.). However the results of cell membrane examinations also got into the series of results requiring technological transfer. First of all, cluster structures and the special conductivity (possibility of biological superconductive states, formation of water clusters etc.) seemed to be promising from the point of view of application. As a result of the encouragement of physicians and their financial participation the basic activity of the company was constricted primarily to the biological application of surface-physics, and later to its oncological specialization. The then leader of the National Pathological Institute, Prof. Dr. Jelinek Harry, provided an opportunity for the implementation of different experiment in Hungary in in-vitro and in-vivo conditions complemented by the work of Dr. Lajos Patonay anatomist.