I am pleased to report we continue to make excellent progress in our use of the Kanzius radiofrequency field device to treat human cancers. Since the last update, a manuscript has just been accepted in which we prove we can target gold nanoparticles to malignant cells that express a specific type of receptor at the surface of the cell. This leads to increased levels of the gold nanoparticles in the cancer cells. This enhanced uptake of the nanoparticles led to complete killing of the cancer cells following treatment in the Kanzius radiofrequency field. This paper will be published in late December or early January in the Journal of Experimental Therapeutics. This will be the first manuscript that proves that we can target nanoparticles to a specific abnormality on cancer cells and increase the killing by getting more nanoparticles into the cells.

I am also happy to report that we are making good progress in analyzing data on a trial that was performed jointly with physicians in Erie, Pennsylvania and by our group here at M. D. Anderson. We are analyzing the treatment of blood samples from patients with leukemia to understand the effect of the Kanzius radiofrequency field treatment on these leukemia cells. We should have this analysis complete and a manuscript ready to submit by January 2009. Once this manuscript is accepted I can discuss the results more fully and we hope this will allow us to proceed rapidly to an understanding of how this treatment could be used in patients with leukemia.

We are making progress with understanding how to combine other types of treatment with the targeted gold nanoparticles and the Kanzius radiofrequency field device. We are looking at a variety of drugs that make the cancer cells more susceptible to killing by the heating produced by the radiofrequency treatment. These projects are also proceeding at a rapid rate and we anticipate that we will have two or three additional manuscripts ready to submit on these particular topics by March or April 2009. As you can see, we are continuing to move forward at a rapid pace and I am very excited by the results.

Finally, I have had some initial conversations with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and we plan to schedule a meeting with them in early 2009 to discuss the steps necessary to get this treatment to human clinical trials. It will still take presentation of a significant amount of additional data to get FDA approval but I am confident we will accrue that data during 2009 and be prepared to go forward with this important and groundbreaking project. I hope this information is useful and I again express my deepest gratitude to all in the community who have supported this research. Clearly, we would not be as far advanced as we are now without the generosity and input of those who have supported our efforts. I wish everyone a blessed and wonderful holiday season and a joyous and safe 2009!

Steven A. Curley, M.D., F.A.C.S