Kanzius machine updates

[Rich66]

Article published Dec 19, 2008

Study shows Kanzius' concept works
By David Bruce
david.bruce@timesnews.com
Researchers have shown that they can target cancer cells with tiny pieces of gold and destroy the cells by using John Kanzius' external radio-frequency generator.
The success clears a major hurdle in proving that the Millcreek Township inventor's device can be used to successfully treat cancer in humans.
A scientific article about the targeting will be published today on the Web site of the Journal of Experimental Therapeutics and Oncology. The journal's Web site is www.oldcitypublishing.com/JETO/JETO.html.
"I was pretty excited when the targeting happened," said Steven Curley, M.D., principal investigator for the Kanzius Project at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. "It proves that this has the potential to work, and that it makes sense for us to continue pushing."
The published article is important because it gives the results scientific validity. Scientific journals including JETO contain articles that have been peer-reviewed to meet standards of quality.
The Kanzius Project has gained worldwide attention in the past 12 months. It has been featured on "60 Minutes" and CNN, and written about in major newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times.
The device works by sending radio waves into the body, which heat nanoparticles -- microscopic pieces of gold or carbon -- hot enough to kill the cancer cells in which they are placed.
But the biggest obstacle -- what Curley has called the "so what" question -- has been whether researchers can send the nanoparticles only to the desired cancer cells.
"This paper shows that we can target the surface of certain cancer cells," Curley said.
Curley and his research team did it by linking specific antibodies, or proteins, to the nanoparticles. The antibodies attach to the surface of certain cancer cells and are absorbed, but they don't attach to healthy cells.
Researchers tested pancreatic and colorectal cancer cells that easily absorb a particular antibody, cetuximab. They also used breast cancer cells that don't absorb the antibody as a control group.
Live cancer cells and the treated nanoparticles were placed in specimen dishes and allowed to incubate for 24 hours. They were then blasted with radio waves from Kanzius' device for two minutes.
The results: Nearly 100 percent of the pancreatic and colorectal cells were killed, but hardly any of the control group's cells were destroyed.
"It shows that we can target specific types of cancer," Curley said. "We're now working on other types of cancer cells, including breast, liver, prostate, leukemia and ovarian."
Curley said that he expects to finish writing "six to eight" more scientific manuscripts about Kanzius' device by mid-2009.
One of those papers is expected to be about tests done on blood samples involving Erie-area patients with blood cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.
Blood samples were collected at the Regional Cancer Center earlier this year and treated with the RF device to determine if the radio waves killed all the cancer cells without harming healthy ones.
"We received the data, though it was a bit fragmented," Curley said. "The results are interesting, but we need more studies."
In addition to writing papers, Curley and his staff are conducting animal tests with Kanzius' device.
They hope to get approval from the Food and Drug Administration to begin human trials by late 2010. If human trials are approved, Curley has promised that Phase II trials would be held at the Regional Cancer Center, 2500 W. 12th St.
"We are right on target," Curley said. "We have a staff of nine, and we're looking to expand by another five people. I'm keeping them running."
Kanzius said he is confident the device will work on humans.
"This was a big step," Kanzius said in a telephone interview from his winter home in Sanibel, Fla. "If you look at this project as a puzzle, the targeting is the last piece. It's all downhill from here."
DAVID BRUCE can be reached at 870-1736 or by e-mail.


December 20, 2008

Sanibel man’s cancer-killing idea passes test

By JENNIFER BOOTH REED
jreed@news-press.com
It works.

A cancer treatment proposed by a Sanibel resident has cleared a major hurdle, according to new research published online Friday in the Journal of Experimental Therapeutics and Oncology.

John Kanzius, who splits his time between Sanibel and Erie, Pa., believes the most recent findings validate a theory he pitched in 2003 — that radio waves combined with some sort of conduit could target and kill cancer cells.

The findings are international in scope, but have particular significance in Lee County. Kanzius is pushing for Lee Memorial Health System to be one of the human clinical trial sites once researchers win government approval to start.

“My vision of this is we have now crossed the last hurdle,” Kanzius said Friday morning from his Sanibel home. “We now know we can do this. We never knew that before.”

Words of caution, though: The latest break-through hasn’t yet been tested on animals, the project is still some steps removed from human trials, and there still are questions that need to be answered.

Here’s the premise:

Doctors would inject a cancer patient with an antibody that carries nanoparticles. The antibody would seek out and bond to cancer cells that express unique proteins — almost like a marker the antibody seeks out. Then, the patient would be exposed to radio waves, which in turn would heat the nanoparticles and kill the cells.
Here’s what’s new:

Prior research by Dr. Steven Curley of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston demonstrated that nanoparticles, when injected directly into a tumor site and exposed to radio waves, would heat up and kill the cells. But the research team didn’t know whether the antibody would carry the nanoparticles to the cancer sites.

The new research, conducted on pancreatic and colon cancer cell cultures, suggests the antibody can do that.

“That was one of the big hurdles they needed to overcome,” said Dr. Charles Saxe, the scientific program director for cell biology at the American Cancer Society.

And here’s why the story keeps grabbing headlines: Kanzius is a businessman with a background in broadcasting, but no medical training. Recently diagnosed with leukemia himself and convinced there had to be a better way to treat cancer than chemotherapy, he started tinkering with the idea of a targeted therapy back in 2003 in his Sanibel garage.

His first experiment had been on a hot dog injected with copper sulfate. When the radio waves hit the copper, that part of the hot dog heated up.

“(The Lee County community) should be very proud of the fact he had the passion to do this and get connected with serious scientists who could make this a real therapy and not just a wish,” Saxe said.

Others are exploring similar targeted approaches. Saxe said researchers are taking small steps toward what they hope will be big breakthroughs.

Dr. Constantine Mantz, a radiation oncologist with 21st Century Oncology in Fort Myers, reviewed the latest study and called it promising, though he said not all cancers will absorb the molecule used to carry the nanoparticle in this study, and some healthy cells can also absorb that same molecule, posing a risk of damage.

The study isn’t Kanzius’ only breakthrough recently. Golfer and entrepreneur Arnold Palmer has visited the Erie, Pa., plant where Kanzius and his contracted business partners are working to develop a human-sized radio frequency device based on the small model he originally built in his Sanibel garage. Palmer has pledged to support the project.

So has Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.

“The governor is neither a doctor nor a scientist, but is aware of the potential of John Kanzius’ discovery and wants to be as supportive as possible and ensure further research is done,” said Chuck Ardo, the governor’s press secretary.

The state has not pledged any dollar amount; Ardo said Rendell will have further talks with Kanzius to determine his need and what the state can offer.

Kanzius hopes to have the new radio frequency device ready by May. He’s heartened by Curley’s latest results.

“This (finding) is the one we really needed. This answered the real question: Can you get these to go specifically where you aim them? And the answer is yes,” Kanzius said.