LEE COUNTY, Fla. – A cancer treatment system that requires no drugs, radiation or invasive surgery is one step closer to entering human trials.
The Kanzius Noninvasive Radiowave Cancer Treatment was able to eradicate cancer cells in pigs during a study that was just completed by Dr. Steven Curley of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
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"Essentially what we have found is that we can go to very powerful fields. It does not cause heating of normal tissues; it doesn't cause damage to normal tissues," described Curley. "Test subjects are having no side effects or toxic effects from the RF treatment."
The procedure was invented by John Kanzius, a former television and radio station owner who lost his battle to leukemia in 2009.
Kanzius, who lived part-time on Sanibel Island, Florida, had said in interviews that the idea came to him in the middle of the night while he was sick from chemotherapy.
His idea was to heat up cancer cells with radio waves. That idea was eventually coupled with the expanding field of nanoparticles. The tiny metallic particles can be created to attach to specific cells, while leaving other healthy cells unharmed.
The Kanzius procedure works by applying radio waves to the parts of the body that have been injected with nanoparticles, heating up and killing the bad cells while leaving the healthy cells unscathed.
During the final years of his life, Kanzius pioneered efforts with Curley at MD Anderson and was around to see successful testing on rats.
The Kanzius Foundation now leads the charge to push the procedure towards human trials, and eventually FDA approval.
"Since its inception, the mission of the Kanzius Foundation has been to raise both awareness and funds for research of the innovative, noninvasive cancer treatment created by the late John Kanzius," said Executive Director, Mark A. Neidig, Sr.
The foundation said on its website that it hopes to push the FDA to start human trials in 2015.