Kanzius Cancer Machine is Effective Against CLL Cells

Former broadcast engineer and radio station owner John Kanzius devoted his final years to the development of a 'cancer-killing machine.' Mr. Kanzius' technical background in radio, along with an accidental exposure to radio waves that heated up the coins in his pocket, wondered if the power of the radio waves could be harnessed to kill cancer cells. He says that he was motivated to do something to help cancer patients fight their cancers, after getting off on a pediatric cancer floor in a visit to MD Anderson, and witnessing first hand the suffering that cancer inflicts on young patients.

He was visiting the renowned cancer facility in order to undergo treatments for his own cancer, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Although originally believing the cancer-killing properties of radio waves would be limited to solid tumors, Mr. Kanzius couldn't help but wonder if it could help cure his own cancer. Unfortunately, he passed away in February, 2009, as preliminary testing of his invention was underway. He always knew that it was a long-shot, but he reserved hope that he might benefit from the machine he created.

Meanwhile, research on the Kanzius invention continues. Doctors at MD Anderson, who were initially intrigued by the possibilities of marrying radio waves and nanoparticles, have made progress. The latest news released on May 8, 2009, demonstrates that the Kanzius machine can indeed kill CLL cells.
Reported by David Bruce and published on GoErie.com, the external radiofrequency generator can kill CLL cells while not significantly damaging normal cells, an important finding.

This finding was ascertained in December, 2008, using the cancerous cells of 19 CLL patients. However, the results are only a tantalizing hint at the possibilities of the machine. Dr. Steven Curly of MD Anderson, who has been spearheading the research effort, said that the CLL killing was probably due to the heating of the cells, which are tagged with gold nanoparticles, attached to a monoclonal antibody that attaches to CLL cells.

So, another step forward. According to the article, the percentage of CLL cells killed was not enumerated, so I can't tell how effective the treatment was, nor can I tell from the article how long the duration of the RF field exposure was, what antibody was used (I'm assuming a rituximab-like MoAB), or any other parameter that would be vital to know.

I've read elsewhere that theis RF generator can heat cells up to 600 degrees or so, plenty warm to kill them. Of course, non-CLL B lymphocytes express the CD20 marker, so it would seem that the machine could potentially kill every cell that carried sufficient gold nanoparticles.

Ideally, this would work as a 'super-rituximab' that, as long as a cell expressed the CD20 marker in sufficient quantities, it could be killed by the machine.

For the full news article, go to http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090508/NEWS02/305089932/-1/NEWS02

For more information about the Kanzius Cancer Machine, go to http://www.kanziuscancerresearch.com/