Clinical application of hyperthermia using 8 MHz radiofrequency(capacitive type THERMOTRON RF-8) in cancer treatment was begun at Yonsei Cancer Center in 1985. From April 1985 to April 1986, 23 patients with loco-regionally advanced and persistent or recurrent carcinomas of the head and neck were treated with hyperthermia at the Department of Radiation Oncology, Yonsei University College of Medicine. Radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy were combined with hyperthermia to improve the tumor response. The response rate of 23 patients was 52%, 4 had complete response, and 7 had partial response. The factors affecting the tumor response were dose of irradiation(P=0.009). Complications related to treatment were found in 8 patients and all of them were self-limited. The result of this study indicates that localized hyperthermia as a combined modality has a significant role in palliation of advanced and recurrent head and neck cancer.