How magnetic heating technology could be a new cancer-fighting weapon
America’s Mayo Clinic is testing Israeli technology that targets solid tumours with fast-rising heat in a process it calls hyperthermia
Anyone who has used an induction cooker is halfway to understanding Mayo Clinic’s new experimental approach to killing cancer cells.
The health system, based in the US state of Minnesota, announced that it is the first in the US to test Israeli technology that targets solid tumours with fast-rising heat in a process it calls hyperthermia.
“Temperature is the Achilles’ heel of cancer,” says Dr Scott Lester, the Mayo radiation oncologist leading a clinical trial to see if the technology is safe.
The challenge is in creating a therapy that focuses heat on cancer cells and does not damage the rest of the body. The company New Phase created a possible solution: to inject iron-containing nanoparticles that bind with cancer cells and make them identifiable targets for its magnetic-heating technology.
The encoded particles prevent overheating and keep the induced temperature at no more than 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).
Induction cookers can produce rapid heat and cause pots to quickly boil over, Lester says.