Archive for the ‘am radio frequency emf’ Category

Using radio waves to bake tumors

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Posted 09 Apr 2012 — by James Street
Category am radio frequency emf, gold nanoparticles, Liver, NanoTechnology, Radiation
(Nanowerk News) Nanothermal therapy – the use of nanoparticles to cook a tumor to death – is one of the many promising uses of nanotechnology to both improve the effectiveness of cancer therapy and reduce its side effects. Now, a team of investigators from the Texas Center for Cancer Nanomedicine has shown that liver cancer cells will take up targeted gold nanoparticles, absorb radio waves, and generate heat that damages the cells. In addition, the researchers have discovered how to increase the thermal toxicity of these nanoparticles.
This research was led by Steven A. Curley, of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and Lon Wilson, of Rice University. The investigators published their results in the journal Nanomedicine (“Stability of antibody-conjugated gold nanoparticles in the endolysosomal nanoenvironment: implications for noninvasive radiofrequency-based cancer therapy”).
Biocompatible gold nanoparticles are ideal vehicles for delivering heat to tumors because they are non-toxic, stable, and can be coated with a variety of molecules to target them to tumors. Unlike conventional anticancer agents, gold nanoparticles are harmless unless first activated by an energy source, such as a near-infrared light delivered by a laser. In fact, laser-activated gold nanoparticles are being tested in human clinical trials for the treatment of head and neck cancer. Radio waves, however, have a potential advantage over laser energy because radio waves do not interact with biological tissues and thus can penetrate more deeply within the body than can laser light.
One of the major obstacles to using radiofrequency-activated gold nanoparticles to treat cancer is their tendency to clump together, which reduces their ability to absorb energy and convert it to heat. In the current study, the Texas researchers aimed to develop a precise understanding of why clumping occurs and develop the means to keep it from happening. Their experiments showed that the low pH within endosomes – the tiny vesicles that bring antibody-targeted nanoparticles into cells – is the primary cause of aggregation.
In an attempt to neutralize the acidic pH within endosomes, the investigators treated the cells with one of two different drugs – concanamycin A, an antibiotic not designed for use in humans, and chloroquine, an approved antimalarial agent – that are known to prevent endosome acidification. When the treated cells were exposed to antibody-targeted gold nanoparticles and then radiofrequency activation, heat-triggered cell death increased markedly compared to that seen with cells that were not pre-treated with the acid blockers, by preserving the protein coating on the gold nanoparticle surface. Based on these results, the investigators are now developing antibody-targeted nanoparticles with coatings that will prevent aggregation in the acidic environment of the endosome.

Source: National Cancer Institute

DFINE Introduces STAR Tumor Ablation System at SIR 2012

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Posted 23 Mar 2012 — by James Street
Category am radio frequency emf, General Cancer Research, Radiation, Radio Frequency RF

press release

March 22, 2012, 2:22 p.m. EDT

Targeted Radiofrequency Device Heats and Destroys Tumor Cells, Providing Palliative Pain Relief for Vertebral Body Metastasis

 

SAN JOSE, Calif., Mar 22, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — DFINE, Inc., the developer of minimally invasive radiofrequency (RF) targeted therapies for the treatment of vertebral pathologies, today announced it will debut the STAR™ Tumor Ablation System at the Society of Interventional Radiology’s (SIR) 37th Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco, March 24-29 (Booth #233).

 

“The STAR System, using targeted radiofrequency ablation (t-RFA™), is a dramatic step forward in the palliative treatment of patients suffering from the debilitating effects of spinal tumors within the vertebral body. It improves the physician’s ability to offer acute pain relief through the use of a single, minimally invasive procedure that is compatible with both chemotherapy and radiation therapy,” said Kevin Mosher, Chief Executive Officer of DFINE. “Unlike other currently available ablation tools, the STAR System was designed and purpose-built for the palliative treatment of metastatic vertebral body lesions.”

Beyond narcotic administration for pain management and conservative treatment, the primary modality for treating painful spinal metastases has been external beam radiation, which, while effective, may require weeks or months to address the associated pain and disability. In addition, radiation therapy often requires patients suspend chemotherapy treatment of the primary cancer due to the potential effects of cumulative toxicity. The benefits of t-RFA using the STAR System include:

– Minimally invasive, targeted procedure

– Rapid pain relief

– Compatible with current treatment algorithms

– Alternative for patients who have reached their cumulative toxicity limit

– Potential treatment for radio-resistant lesions

– Pain reduction prior to radiotherapy

Metastatic bone disease occurs in up to 85 percent of patients with the three most common types of primary cancer — breast, prostate and lung.(1) The spine is the most common site for bone metastases, with studies showing that metastatic spinal tumors will develop in between 10 percent and 40 percent of all cancer patients, with even higher rates in elderly patients.(2) For patients, this can cause debilitating pain, numbness, and even paralysis as these tumors impinge on neurologic tissue and weaken the structure of the vertebrae. Several post-mortem studies have found metastatic spinal tumors in over 30 percent of all patients who died as a result of cancer and cancer-related causes.(3,4)

A Multi-Disciplinary Approach – “Metastatic Spinal Tumors: Current Practice and Future Directions”

DFINE will sponsor a dinner symposium to explore the importance of integrated interventional therapies in the clinical treatment pathways for patients with metastatic vertebral body tumors on Saturday, March 24, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis, Foothill G Room.* The symposium, “Metastatic Spinal Tumors: Current Practice and Future Directions,” will be moderated by Francis R. Facchini, M.D., FSIR, Assistant Professor at The Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University and an Interventional Radiologist at VIR Chicago, and will feature a world renowned multi-disciplinary panel with perspectives from experts in medical oncology, radiation oncology and interventional radiology.

About DFINE, Inc.

DFINE is dedicated to relieving pain and improving the quality of life for patients suffering from vertebral pathologies through innovative, minimally invasive therapies. DFINE’s devices are built upon an extensible radiofrequency (RF) platform. Cleared for commercial use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the first application is the StabiliT® Vertebral Augmentation System and StabiliT® ER(2) Bone Cement, which harness the power of RF energy to treat pathological fractures of the vertebrae. The company subsequently received FDA 510(k) commercial clearance for its second application, the STAR™ Tumor Ablation System, for palliative treatment in spinal procedures to ablate metastatic malignant lesions in a vertebral body. Both products will be on display at SIR’s 37th Annual Scientific Meeting in booth #233. DFINE is based in San Jose, Calif. and is a privately held company. For more information visit http://www.dfineinc.com .

About SIR’s Annual Scientific Meeting

The Society of Interventional Radiology’s Annual Scientific Meeting is the most comprehensive educational meeting for the IR community and associated professionals, focused on developments in interventional radiology and interventional oncology, and attracts nearly 5,300 physicians, scientists and health professionals from around the world. For more information visit: http://www.SIRmeeting.org/ .

(1) Kurup AN and Callstrom MR. Ablation of skeletal metastases: Current status. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2010;21:S242-S250.

(2) Cardoso ER, et al. Percutaneous tumor curettage and interstitial delivery of samarium-153 coupled with kyphoplasty for treatment of vertebral metastases. J. Neurosurg Spine 2009;10:336-342.

(3) Wong DA, Fornasier VL, and MacNab I. Spinal metastases: the obvious, the occult, and the impostors. Spine. 1990;15(1):1-4.

(4) Ortiz Gomez JA. The incidence of vertebral body metastases. Int Orthop. 1995;19:309-311.

* This event is not considered part of the SIR 2012 Annual Scientific Meeting as planned by the SIR Annual Scientific Meeting Committee.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50214882&lang=en

SOURCE: DFINE, Inc.

        For DFINE, Inc.
        Susan Benton Russell, 310-697-3488
        susan@bentoncommunications.com

UAB researchers find amplitude-modulated electromagnetic fieldso control tumor growth

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Posted 02 Dec 2011 — by James Street
Category am radio frequency emf, Physics and Engineering, Radiation

By Beena Thannickal

New evidence by University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers that specific electromagnetic fields can safely block the proliferation of cancer cells and tumor growth may help refine a new, targeted therapy without any collateral damage.

pasche_storyVery low levels of amplitude-modulated radiofrequency electromagnetic fields block cancer-cell growth in a tumor- and tissue-specific fashion, says Boris Pasche, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UAB Division of Hematology and Oncology. Pasche and a research team led by Jacquelyn Zimmerman, a graduate student in the UAB Medical Scientist Training Program, conducted studies with cancer cells, replicating the treatment conditions in patients with cancer. The results were published in the Dec.1, 2011, online version of the British Journal of Cancer.

The study provides the first laboratory evidence of an effect observed in earlier clinical studies when cancer cells, exposed to electromagnetic fields emitted by custom-made devices replicating patient-treatment conditions, was found to be blocked by specific modulation frequencies. The new study suggests that fine-tuning field frequency makes the effect specific to certain tissues and tumors and holds clues for how it might work.

Two earlier clinical studies suggested the growth of cancer cells may be altered following exposure to specific frequencies; however, this is the first time an effect has been observed in a laboratory setting, Pasche says.

“We now have laboratory evidence showing a direct effect on cancer cells and providing a plausible mechanism of action based on the modulation frequencies used in patients,” says Pasche. In recent studies, Pasche and his team gathered clinical evidence that very low and safe levels of amplitude-modulated electromagnetic fields may elicit therapeutic responses in patients with advanced liver and breast cancer. “However, until now there was no known mechanism explaining how very low levels of electromagnetic fields might block the growth of cancer cells while sparing healthy cells” says Pasche.

Zimmerman says, “It is exciting to identify an effect targeting only tumor cells with limited side-effects for patients.  As a graduate student, it is a thrill to see translational research in action.”

An in vitro system replicating patient-treatment conditions, designed and constructed by Ivan Brezovich, Ph.D., professor and director of radiation physics in the UAB Department of Radiation Oncology, enabled scientists to examine cancer cells in the laboratory that were exposed to tumor-specific modulation frequencies. They discovered that very low levels of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, which are comparable to the levels administered to patients, significantly inhibited tumor-cell growth.

To determine how such frequencies impede cancer-cell growth, the team collaborated with Devin Absher, Ph.D., and Rick Myers, Ph.D., from Hudson-Alpha Institute for Biotechnology. The scientists observed the anti-proliferative effect is mediated by changes in gene expression and by disrupting dividing cells.

“This is the first experimental evidence that electromagnetic fields can both down-regulate the expression of genes that control cell migration and affect the mitotic spindle,” says Pasche. “Part of the framework that guides cells as they divide and multiply, mitotic spindles are essential to normal tissue growth and to the fast, abnormal growth seen in cancer.  Interfering with them only in cancer cells is an exciting prospect.”

“These findings uncover a new alley to control tumor growth and may have broad implications for cancer treatment,” Pasche says. “We hope these findings help develop and refine a new safe, targeted therapy to kill cancer cells without any collateral damage.”