Nobel Winner Boosts Kanzius' Cancer Theory
Posted on: Monday, 18 July 2005, 18:01 CDT
Jul. 17--A Texas research team led by Nobel Prize-winning chemist Richard Smalley believes Millcreek Township inventor John Kanzius might have uncovered the missing piece in the search for a cure for cancer.
The team now wants to lend its expertise to help put Kanzius' theory on a fast track to find out whether it can work effectively in live patients.
Smalley, one of the world's top minds in the field of nanotechnology, has already started work on trying to determine whether Kanzius' theory --which uses directed radio waves -- can be partnered with the use of carbon nanotubes to target and destroy cancer cells.
His Rice University-based team plans to work with researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to marry the two disciplines.
Results from the early rounds of research could be completed within six to 12 months, said Paul Cherukuri, a Rice University researcher and a member of Smalley's team.
"Until we do the experiments, we won't know. But it holds so much excitement,"Cherukuri said. "This is such an exciting possibility that so many people are just slapping their heads saying, 'Why didn't I think of it already.'"
Smalley's research group is part of the Alliance for NanoHealth -- a collaborative effort involving six universities that is working to bridge the gaps between medicine, biology, public policy and nanotechnology. It joins a growing list of high-level researchers who are working to see whether Kanzius' theory can work in live patients.
Kanzius, 61, developed the radio-wave theory in 2003 and 2004 while he was undergoing chemotherapy treatments for a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
The theory, developed through Kanzius' knowledge of radio engineering and his interest in medicine, involves the use of directed, high-powered radio waves.
According to Kanzius' theory, the waves can be directed at enhanced cancer cells, and the energy contained in those waves creates a localized hyperthermia -- or small fever -- that destroys the cancer cells' membranes. Without their protective shells, the cells die and are carried out of the body through normal kidney functions.
Kanzius -- a retired Erie radio and television station owner --has no formal background in medicine.
But his theory, which is outlined in five applications with the U.S. Patent Office, has sparked a wave of optimism among researchers in Pennsylvania and across the country.
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center this spring began testing Kanzius' theory on liver tumors found in lab rats.
The MD Anderson Center --which treated Kanzius during his battle with cancer -- announced in June that it plans to begin parallel tests on the theory this fall. Its tests will likely be conducted on larger animals, such as rabbits and pigs, and will include other forms of cancer.
Kanzius said the recent addition of Smalley's research group is expected to push the project forward at a faster pace.
"You've got the most brilliant minds in the world working on it now," Kanzius said. "It seems to me they are convinced this is going to work. I've been very cautious about this. But they are convincing me this is very doable."
Smalley, like Kanzius, has been waging an on-and-off battle with lymphoma. He was not available for comment because of his latest treatments.
According to his biography, Smalley won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1996 and is widely known among scientists for his discovery of the C60 molecule --a soccer-ball-shaped molecule.
His current research involves carbon-based nanotubes -- tiny tubes that are known for their ability to conduct electricity.
Cherukuri, who will play a key role in the Rice research, said researchers believe they can attach the nanotubes to cancer cells and tune the directed radio waves to work in tandem with the tubes.
He equates the use of nanotubes to a lens that can focus the directed radio waves on individual cells without harming healthy cells.
"The exciting part of this is the clinical need -- the carbon nanotubes being a non-invasive way of killing cancer cells without hurting any healthy cells in the body," Cherukuri said.
But while scientists say the theory is sound on paper, they must first make sure it can be applied without any side effects before it can be considered a cure.
"The theory behind it is very sound," said Steven A. Curley, M.D., a professor of surgical oncology at the MD Anderson Center and one of the world's leading experts on radio-frequency ablation. "But before it is used in a single human being, we will have it down to a fine art. The reality is you've got to prove principle first and prove you can do it safely before you can treat even one person."
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Source: Erie Times-News
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User Comments (12)
| 12. |
Posted by Peter A. Schlesinger on 10/13/2009, 01:43 Does anyone know how to make a simple home built radio wave emmitter? Good people are suffering from possible terminal cancer and I would like to build a system to help them! Please respond to pschles371@q.com |
| 11. |
Posted by donald gamboa on 08/09/2008, 01:52 this looks like the most promising thing in cancer research i can imagine. with regard to a previous post, although i'd love to see this work for all cancer patients, many people have localized cancer and this treatment provides a lot of hope for them. I hope the kanzius machine gets a lot morefunding. I realize targeting is a major issue but can anyone think of anything more promising in the last 20 or 30 years? I can hardly wait for experiments on larger animals followed by clinical trials on people. |
| 10. |
Posted by Linda Hodubski on 03/06/2008, 17:24 A dear cousin of mine recently died of cancer and my family would like to make a donation to this research in his name. Where would I get information on making donations? |
| 9. |
Posted by Will on 01/14/2008, 02:48 I faith that John Kanzius' discovery will cure cancer and end energy costliness. |
| 8. |
Posted by James Wren on 01/10/2008, 15:21 I am concerned that this might not work with blood cancers since the missing of only one or two leukemic blasts would allow propogation of the entire disease process. I think that this would not get to the root cause of a leukemic type of disease......since there are changes within the dna at the molecular level of the diseased person which gives rise to the disease itself. |
| 7. |
Posted by george mertz on 12/10/2007, 16:48 this is the cure and it's not carbon nanotubes it's nanoparticles most do not know nano particle have been used to kill bacteria. particles are to large to enter multicelled animals but are small enough to enter one celled animals and destroy them. the particals used are not carbon but metalic they are atached to antigens and colect on the tumor |
| 6. |
Posted by Ron Burk on 11/04/2007, 18:34 Fortunately, the researchers are being careful not to use the dreaded "C" word ("cure"). Even if it were 99.9% successful, it's highly possible that metastatic cancer would continue to be fatal for most patients. Targetting is indeed the nasty problem, just as it is with chemotherapy and other cell-level routes of attack. Cancer cells have numerous attributes that tend to distinguish them from other cells (rapid division, sequestering of iron, etc.), but tendencies are not stark enough to prevent collateral damage to non-cancerous cells. The rabbit experiments used direct injection into the tumor. If you translate that into humans with metastatic disease, it might give you the gift of playing whack-a-mole with tumors as they get big enough to detect, and might add months to the lives of terminal patients. AFAIK, the problem of targetting remains difficult, and one that may always have to have lots of different solutions for all the many types of cancers. |
| 5. |
Posted by dan bachert on 10/17/2007, 10:18 i believe they have clinically tested this on a women in tampa,fl. on 10-12-07. correct me if im wrong. i believe it was done at st.joseph hospital and it was a womens liver. |
| 4. |
Posted by Michael Grumazescu on 09/13/2007, 09:14 "Cherukuri, who will play a key role in the Rice research, said researchers believe they can attach the nanotubes to cancer cells and tune the directed radio waves to work in tandem with the tubes." Carbon nanotubes will get hot for sure when exposed to RF. The big question is how they can be attached ONLY to cancer cells and not to healthy tissues as well. If our sophisticated immune system cannot recognize the cancer cells, how will carbon nanotubes be able to do that? |
| 3. |
Posted by Robert Andres on 08/27/2007, 07:48 How do we invest in this research? As a safety engineer, I think it makes much more sense than nuclear radiation - better accuracy and control, much less expensive, and safer for all involved. |
| 2. |
Posted by Dr. Dan Pulsipher on 12/16/2006, 17:31 Why hasn't this been publicized more? It appears that we are poised at the point of a breakthrough in the fight against cancer. |
| 1. |
Posted by Dr. Dan Pulsipher on 12/16/2006, 17:30 Why hasn't this been publicized more? It appears that be are poised at the point of a breakthrough in the fight against cancer. |
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