Magnets as cure to Cancer and Tumours

• Magnets are long known for their Industrial Usage and Electro Magnetic waves play a huge role in the electronic age. 
• Its therapeutic usage was also in voge for some time. Now, its application to cure cancer is also a possibility, Israeli Scientists find.

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In what may revolutionise cancer treatment, an Israeli scientist claimed to have devised a new technique that can destroy tumours with fewer side effects.

The new cancer-killing therapy, being developed by Professor Israel Gannot of Tel Aviv University's Department of Biomedical Engineering, uses magnetically heated nano-particles to target and broil individual cancer cells.

The innovative method, to be published in the journal Nanomedicine, can help kill the tumour cells leaving the surrounding healthy tissues intact unlike the common radiation therapy that often harms healthy tissues while trying to kill malignant cells.

Using specific biomarkers attached to individual tumours, Prof. Gannot's special mixture of nano-particles and antibodies locates and binds to the tumour itself, the university said in a release.

"Once the nano-particles bind to the tumour, we excite them with an external magnetic field, and they begin to heat very specifically and locally," said Prof. Gannot.

The magnetic field is manipulated to create a targeted rise in temperature, and it is this directed heat elevation which kills the tumours, he said.

The treatment has been proven effective against epithelial cancers, which can develop in almost any area of the body, such as the breast or lung.

By using a special feedback process, also developed in his laboratory, the process can be 

optimised for individual treatment, the scientist claimed.

The specialised cocktail of nano-particles and antibodies is administered safely and simply, through topical local injection or injection into the blood stream. As an added benefit, the mixture washes out of the body without leaving a trace, minimising side effects, he stated.

The nano-particles themselves are already FDA-approved, and according to Prof Gannot, the method is effective almost any type of tumour, as long as its specific markers and its antibodies can be identified.

If clinical trials are successful, the technique may become a mainstay of patient care, the university said.

In addition to being minimally invasive, this treatment boasts sheer speed. It can be applied during an out-patient procedure — the entire technique lasts only six hours — which allows patients to recuperate in the comfort of their own homes. 

Prof. Gannot is currently applying his technique to cell lines and to ex vivo tissues and tissue-like substitutes in his lab, and plans to start in vivo experiments by next year, the university added.