upper layers of the tumor from being overheated to provide for the treatment of a wide range of shallow tumors the preferred energy density per pulse is between 0 1 and 10 joules per square centimeter of tumor area these pulses are preferably repeated at a rate of between 0 1 and 1 hertz the number of pulses for treating shallow tumors preferably ranges between 1 and 1000 pulses to treat a wide range of tumor sizes the radiation should be applied to an area of the skin ranging from 0 8 cm 2 to 500 cm 2 it is clear from fig1 that by irradiating a tumor with selected bands of radiation in the visible and near infrared regions the tumor can be penetrated to a depth of between 0 05 and 0 25 cm and hyperthermically treated fig2 illustrates just such a tumor treatment apparatus 10 having a housing 12 that encloses a radiation source 14 and a reflector 16 and having an opening with a set of optical filters 18 20 and a delivery system 22 a processor 24 is provided to control radiation source 14 through lamp driver circuit 26 under the control of a program in memory 28 radiation source 14 is a flashlamp such as a.