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Nov 5, 2008 11:40 pm US/Eastern
Palmer Takes Interest In Cancer-Fighting Machine
ERIE (KDKA) ―
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John Kanzius has created a machine that has the potential to kill cancer cells.
KDKA
It's a technique to kill cancer that could revolutionize how the disease is treated, and it has attracted the attention of a lot of people, including golf legend and Latrobe native Arnold Palmer.
Palmer was diagnosed with prostate cancer more than 10 years ago. He underwent surgery and beat it.
One of his daughters is a breast cancer survivor. But his wife of 45 years, Winnie, died of cancer in 1999.
Palmer was invited to meet John Kanzius and see the machine in action.
"Something like John Kanzius and what he's doing and the potential for this machine
This thing he's doing is fantastic," Palmer tells KDKA-TV.
John Kanzius is no medical doctor. In fact, his background is in broadcasting, but after being diagnosed with leukemia and seeing children in a hospital in Texas suffering through the side effects of chemotherapy, he got an idea.
His machine uses radiowaves to heat up tiny pieces of metal called nanoparticles.
In tests, the nanoparticles get hot enough to kill cancer cells without damaging nearby tissue.
It's now being tested on rats at the University of Pittsburgh Liver Cancer Center.
When asked about its potential, Kanzius said, "I used to think 'if" this would work, but based on the research I've been in on, it's not the word 'if,' but 'when.'"
Palmer tells KDKA he's talked to doctors about it as well, who say the treatment has great potential.
"I've sort of committed to doing whatever I can to make this a practicing instrument to help cure cancer," Palmer said.
Right now, though, the technique is only being tested on animals, and even though the research is promising, human trials may still be a couple of years away.
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