New Way to Kill Tumors

Today, radiation therapy is one of the most important weapons against cancerous tumors, but the therapy can have a significant impact on the health of a patient as it harms healthy tissue as well as malignant cells. Patients often experience anything from nausea to hair loss, fatigue, skin irritation, and a lowered white blood cell count.

Professor Israel Gannot uses a special mixture of nano-particles and antibodies to locate individual tumors and bind directly to them. The specialized cocktail is administered safely and simply, through topical local injection or injection into the blood stream. “Once the nano-particles bind to the tumor, we excite them with an external magnetic field, and they begin to heat very specifically and locally,” Gannot explains. The magnetic field is manipulated to create a targeted rise in temperature, and it is this directed heat elevation that kills the tumors, he says. Once the treatment is completed, the nano-particles are washed out of the body naturally without leaving a trace, minimizing side effects.

Aside from being minimally invasive, Gannot says the treatment lasts only six hours and can be administered during an out-patient procedure, enabling patients to recuperate at home. For more information: gannot@eng.tau.ac.il, +972-3-640-6711.