A cure for Cancer... or false hope?
December 21, 2008 3:00 PM   Subscribe

John Kanzius thinks he can cure Cancer with radio waves... But can he really? John Kanzius is no trained scientist and with the clock ticking on his own demise(he has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) time is running out.

John Kanzius is a beacon of hope for the 'rust belt' city of Erie, Pa. His invention promises a huge economic boost to the dying town and all the local heavy weights are on the John Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation board including former mayor Joyce Savocchio, current mayor Joseph Sinnott and current Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio. You see, if the device works it will be manufactured there and could bring in millions of dollars. Everyone in Erie is chipping in-- with many families donating their hard earned money. But should they trust him?
posted by flipyourwig (14 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: We had a post about Kanzius earlier this year. -- cortex



 
But should they trust him?

I'll take "no" for $500, Alex.
posted by Justinian at 3:04 PM on December 21, 2008


I don't know about cancer, but that top link almost gave me a heart attack. I heard click, click, click and I thought, "Oh, God. My hard drive is failing."
posted by grumblebee at 3:05 PM on December 21, 2008


Seems like the hard part is the metallic-"nanoparticle"-with-carrier-cell bit. If we could get that technique down, any number of other options present themselves.
posted by penduluum at 3:16 PM on December 21, 2008


It's similar to using gold nanoparticles for early prostate cancer detection. But the hard part isn't theorizing that if we could do this, we could cure cancer, it's actually making it work. Underpants gnomes all over again, except the ???? step is the first step instead of the second set.

1) ??????
2) Use nanoparticles to cure cancer!
3) Profit!
posted by Justinian at 3:25 PM on December 21, 2008


i'll reserve judgement until suzanne somers weighs in.
posted by klanawa at 3:32 PM on December 21, 2008


This is a double post.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 3:39 PM on December 21, 2008


Top link made my browser click too, but not on a reload. No idea why.
posted by cjorgensen at 3:52 PM on December 21, 2008


1. Kill Patient with incredible amounts of "radio" waves
2. With patient dead, the cancer stops growing
3. Announce cure for cancer.
posted by blue_beetle at 4:00 PM on December 21, 2008


Isn't all radiation therapy "curing cancer with radio waves"? Obviously if you frame an FPP to make the guy sound as much like a crackpot as possible will make them seem like a crackpot. The RF method thought up by this guy is pretty resonable. From the wikipedia article:
In 2003 and 2004, John Kanzius was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and while undergoing treatment he began to think of how he could employ what he knew to battle what he suffered from. John Kanzius is a retired radio and TV engineer, and an FCC licensed amateur ('ham') radio operator. It is from this expertise that John theorized that radio waves could be utilized in the fight against cancer. Based on a lifetime of experience with radio equipment, he engineered the first model of the Kanzius RF Machine. At first, John Kanzius had nothing to go on but that little bits of metal could be heated after applying radio waves, but Richard Smalley, nanotechnology pioneer and creator of the buckyball, heard about the theory from colleagues in 2005 and contributed the theory that carbon nanotubes could be heated when radio waves were applied.

The medical community first took notice in the spring of 2005, when experiments were done at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Since then, ongoing research has also been done at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, led by Stephen Curley, a professor of surgical oncology.
Like all scientific work, there is a chance that it won't pan out. And while Kanzius may not be a "trained scientist" (whatever that means) Richard Smalley is a Nobel Prize winner.
posted by delmoi at 4:10 PM on December 21, 2008


Apparently Kanzus is a free energy nut though. Hmm.
posted by delmoi at 4:16 PM on December 21, 2008


But can he really?

with the clock ticking on his own demise(he has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) time is running out.

Well, we shall soon find out, shan't we?
posted by c13 at 4:25 PM on December 21, 2008


I live in Erie, Pa and I don't understand why everyone is so enamored with him here, and why everyone just gives him so much money. No one here is looking at this skeptically. He is taking money from people on a fixed income(my husband's grandparents are on welfare and donating all their money to him this Christmas) and cancer patients(my husband's 2nd cousin is dying of cancer and giving all her money to him) and even thumbing through the paper I see obituaries where people have left their inheritance to his foundation. If it was that good of an idea and SO worth giving money to why hasn't a super billionaire like Warren Buffet invested in it... or a major medical corporation. I don't know. Something about him just rubs me wrong.
posted by flipyourwig at 4:33 PM on December 21, 2008


Many groups in the cancer field are working on some variation of this technique. Here is an example where they are also using gold nanoparticles, but do the heating with a laser. Others are using organic molecules that are strong 2 photon absorbers so that they can be activated by red light (flesh is suprisingly transparent to red light).
posted by 445supermag at 4:39 PM on December 21, 2008


Isn't all radiation therapy "curing cancer with radio waves"?

No. The difference is ionizing radiation vs. non-ionizing radiation. Radio waves, and everything else with a wavelength longer than visible light, is non-ionizing. Non-ionizing radiation lacks the energy to damage cells and DNA, other than by thermal heating. On the other hand, short wavelength radiation like ultraviolet or gamma rays can cause cancer, and in the right circumstances, cure it.
posted by ryanrs at 4:40 PM on December 21, 2008


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