Erie, Pennsylvania, October 28, 2009 - The Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation announced today that Steven Curley M.D., primary investigator of the Kanzius Non-invasive Radio Wave Cancer Treatment at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has been awarded a $2.1 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This grant, to be paid over the next five years, will be used for continuing research on the Kanzius Treatment which seeks to kill human cancer cells treated with gold nanoparticles without damaging healthy cells.

This grant is part of an $11.6 million NCI research grant awarded to a group of facilities including The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, to spur research in cancer and help create 12 consortiums of research centers to examine new methods of treating cancer. One of those consortiums to be created is the Center for Transport Oncophysics (CTO) at M.D. Anderson.

"By bringing a fresh set of eyes to the study of cancer, these new centers have great potential to advance, and sometimes challenge, accepted theories about cancer and its supportive microenvironment," said NCI Director John E. Niederhuber, M.D.

Steven Curley, M.D. will be co-leading the consortium. "This novel collaboration will help us sharpen a promising potential therapy that destroys tumors by using radio waves to heat up gold nanoparticles embedded inside them," Curley said.

Curley has been leading research for the cancer treatment approach invented by the late John Kanzius, a leukemia patient treated at M.D. Anderson and retired broadcast engineer before his death in February, 2009. The theory behind the treatment is simple: inject a patient with gold nanoparticles; force the nanoparticles into the targeted cancer cells; slide the patient into the radio field and allow the radio waves to penetrate the body, heat the nanoparticles, and cause them to kill the cancer.

"The key to making this work is to so precisely target nanoparticles to the tumor that you destroy the tumor with radio waves while sparing other tissue," Curley said. "The CTO will address that central issue."

The preliminary research shows that the Kanzius Non-invasive Radio Wave Cancer Treatment is effective: 100% of the cancer cells are destroyed, there is no damage to neighboring “good” tissues/cells, there are no side effects and no surgery is required.

“This is incredibly exciting and encouraging news for the Kanzius Foundation,” said Mark A. Neidig Sr., Executive Director of the Erie, Pennsylvania based Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation. “An NCI grant positions our research work with a stronger base; one which makes a very loud statement regarding the credibility and validity of both our preliminary findings and future studies.”

Marianne Kanzius, wife of the late John Kanzius adds, “I am so pleased with the work that Dr. Curley has done to date and congratulate him on the tenacity it has taken to achieve this coveted funding. The NCI grant is a tremendous acclamation to his work and movement of John’s dream one step closer to reality.”

The work of the Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation is far from complete. The added funding to Dr. Curley’s research is but one aspect of funding needed to advance the multiple research venues utilizing the Kanzius technology and to secure FDA approval.

“The NCI grant was sorely needed and advances our work with vigor,” said Neidig. “However, the total pre-human clinical trial cost is upwards to $12 million so our work continues.” To read more about the NCI grant.