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Novel Hyperthermic Treatment Offers Hope for Stage 4 Metastatic Cancer

AHA Publisher — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 06:25:28 +0000

Brian Blum via Israel21c – It’s one of the most heart wrenching moments in medicine and in life. The doctor informs a patient that his or her stage 4 cancer has metastasized all over the body and nothing more can be done except to write a referral for hospice care. But what if there was a way to shrink those stage 4 tumors by half? It wouldn’t make the cancer go away, but would transform it from a likely death sentence to a “chronic illness” with treatments required every few months. That’s what Petah Tikva-based New Phase hopes to do by applying electromagnetic hyperthermia to treat inoperable tumors. Hyperthermia is when the body is heated up. It’s been known for some time that cancerous cells don’t like heat. They die when the temperature hits about 45 degrees Celsius (114 Fahrenheit). Non-cancerous cells on the other hand, can survive temperatures up to 55C/131F. That’s because tumor cells have a disorganized vascular structure which, unlike normal cells, has difficulty dissipating heat. New Phase injects specially created iron oxide nanoparticles by IV. The nanoparticles are embedded within a phase change material (which releases or absorbs energy to provide heat or cooling) and coated with polyethylene glycol (a compound derived from petroleum). They locate the tumors through a process known as EPR – “enhanced permeability and retention,” explains Ofer Shalev, who cofounded New Phase with Dr. Rafi Hof. “Tumor cells feed off of blood capillaries, where there is a lot of leakage,” Shalev tells ISRAEL21c. “We use this to ‘leak’ into the cancer cells. This is the permeability of EPR.” Selective destruction Four hours after receiving the nanoparticle injection, the patient lies on a bed inside an RF machine that uses an electromagnetic induction system to generate non-ionizing radiation. This radiation heats the nanoparticles to a maximum of 50 degrees Celsius by changing the polarity of their iron oxide core. Patients undergoing New Phase treatment wear a special blanket to cool themselves down. Stage 4 metastasized cancer is particularly insidious because many of the “micro-metastases” cannot be identified even microscopically. That makes it impossible to surgically remove these kinds of tumors. But New Phase’s nanoparticles can find them. And even if not all the tumors are destroyed, the treatment turns a stage 4 cancer into something more akin to stage 2 – for which many more treatment options are available. “Even reducing a cancerous mass by 30% to 50% is a huge achievement,” Shalev points out. If some nanoparticles find their way into healthy cells, those cells can survive. “This is how we selectively destroy only the cancer cells,” Shalev says. When there’s nothing else to offer Why not use New Phase’s technology for earlier stages of cancer? “We can,” Shalev says, “but we wanted to start with Stage 4 cancers, where there’s nothing else to offer. In Israel, 11,000 patients die every year from cancer. In the US, it’s more than 600,000 – and the number is increasing by 5,000 people a year. So even dealing with just that subset of patients is a lot of work.” Shalev and his partner previously worked together at ReDent-Nova, which develops dental devices and instruments to treat root canals. They named New Phase’s technology “Sarah” after Hof’s mother, who passed way from lung cancer. “We want patients to survive until [a ripe old] age and to die from reasons other than cancer,” Shalev says. New Phase has so far been tested with mice, pigs and rabbits and with “a few human patients” at a hospital in Nahariya in northern Israel. These Phase I clinical studies started with a fairly low dose. “With every cohort, we will add more and more doses,” Shalev says. Efficacy results are not in yet. “But we know from MRI scans that the nanoparticles reached their targets,” Shalev says. Systemic approach The nanoparticles are developed by New Phase in a “clean room” near Karmiel. The lab is run by three female Druze chemists from a nearby village. New Phase is not the only company that is using hyperthermia to kill cancer cells. “But we are the only ones using it for systemic treatment,” Shalev tells ISRAEL21c. “Others inject nanoparticles into a specific tumor to treat it locally. We don’t care where the micro-metastases are located. They will retain our nanoparticles and, later on, will be destroyed by the hyperthermia.” Another Israeli startup, AlphaTau, is using alpha radiation to kill tumors. This approach, too, is highly local, targeting specific tumors. New Phase’s nanoparticle treatment won’t be available until at least late 2024 or early 2025. That’s how long it takes to conduct all the clinical studies. But the good news is that the approval process will be faster than if it was a drug, because the US Food and Drug Administration has agreed to categorize New Phase’s treatment as a class 3 medical device. Multicultural team New Phase’s scientific advisory board includes Prof. Dan Peer, director of the Laboratory of Precision NanoMedicine at Tel Aviv University; Dr. Glenwood Goss, chair of the Thoracic Oncology Site Committee and a professor of medicine at the University of Ottawa; and Dr. Arnold Cyjon, former deputy head of oncology at Shamir Medical Center in Israel. In late 2021, the company added Prof. Zeev Rotstein, the former head of Hadassah and Sheba Medical Centers in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, respectively. Rotstein is an active adviser and has good relationships with American hospitals, Shalev notes. Founded in 2013, New Phase has raised $25 million to date (much of it from the family office of serial entrepreneur Aharon Lukach) and employs a multidisciplinary team of 30 engineers, biologists and chemists. Shalev is proud that the company has a 50-50 mix of men and women. Starting off in the NextGen Technologies incubator in Nazareth has also meant the company employs both Jewish and Arab Israelis. New Phase’s technology will, in part, “catch up” patients suffering from solid tumor cancers with their blood cancer counterparts, where immunotherapy has already transformed many conditions, such as lymphoma, into “chronic cancers.” For more information about New Phase, click here To read the original article click here.

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Cancer HELP: Slow Down the Growth of Tumor Cells with a “HOT” Food Choice

AHA Publisher — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 08:00:36 +0000

Karen Sanders via NaturalHealth365 – Did you know the heat you feel after biting into a hot chili pepper is good for you? The compound capsaicin – that causes this pungent heat – is also found to kill cancer cells. In fact, in the last few years, the research on chili peppers has focused on many organs including, the pancreas, brain, prostate, colon, and breast. In a 2020 study published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, authors confirmed capsaicin’s potent anti-cancer properties in various cancer types. In addition, researchers found that combining capsaicin with conventional chemotherapy drugs improves patient outcomes by reducing drug side effects and enhancing patients’ tolerance to cancer treatment. Can Chili Peppers Harm Healthy Cells? To date, there have been many studies on chili pepper’s ability to fight off cancer cells in many cancer-affected organs. Among them, the 2006 study on prostate cancer cells drew more interest from researchers. Experiments on capsaicin reveal that this compound specifically targets tumors and cancerous cells without affecting healthy cells. Researchers found that capsaicin could do this by interfering with protein synthesis of the cancer cells, degradation of the cell DNA, and interfering with cell transcription mechanisms of cancerous cells. While capsaicin affected the cancer cells’ mitochondrial pathway, there was no interference in the activity of healthy cells. This was observed in cancer-induced albino rats in lab studies. A 2006 study published in Cancer Research revealed that capsaicin was effective in inhibiting prostate cancer cells. The study found that capsaicin promoted automated cell death in primary types of prostate cancer cell lines and cancer cells caused by hormones. Furthermore, capsaicin decreased the expression of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and inhibited the ability of the dihydrotestosterone to activate PSA. When lab animals received four weeks of treatment with capsaicin, prostate cancer growth and size significantly decreased. This Spicy Food Choice Does MORE Than Just Prevent Cancer Compounds in chili peppers have been associated with multiple benefits like a positive immune system response, weight loss, a lower risk of diabetes, and heart-healthy effects. In fact, a randomized, cross-over study among 27 healthy subjects revealed that consuming freshly chopped chili prevented the oxidation (free radical damage) to the fat cells – which was a crucial factor in decreasing heart problems. Capsaicin is also anti-inflammatory in nature. It inhibits substance P, a neuropeptide associated with inflammation that results in pain, heart diseases, and other conditions. Because of this property, it has been used in various chemotherapy studies for pain relief and many treatments involving nerve fiber disorders, conditions like psoriasis, arthritis, and many more. Researchers say the hotter the pepper, the higher is its capsaicin content. Good examples include habanero and scotch bonnet peppers followed by jalapeno. Here Is How to Use Chili Peppers in Your Next Recipe Chili peppers can give any bland recipe an interesting taste. So, the next time you sauté vegetables in a stir fry, try adding some chili peppers to accentuate its health benefits as well as spice it up a bit. Other ways to super-charge your recipes include adding minced chili peppers to plain yogurt as a salad dressing, in salsa for extra hot taste, pureeing a small amount with tomatoes or olives to give a surprising twist to your recipes. Just be very careful when handling fresh chili peppers; direct contact with skin, lips, and eyes can cause a burning sensation. Be sure to use cooking gloves instead of bare hands when using them for cooking. Consuming chili peppers in moderation is considered safe, however, if you are allergic to peppers or vegetables in the nightshade family, it is a good idea to keep away from this spice. Another important point to keep in mind is to buy organic hot peppers instead of conventionally grown ones. According to the Environmental Working Group’s 2020 report, non-organic hot peppers are among the most toxic (pesticide sprayed) items on the market. As a final note: please understand we are not suggesting that ‘if you eat chili peppers, you won’t get cancer cells.’ But, living an anticancer lifestyle – which includes lots of anti-inflammatory / anti-cancer foods (as long as you’re not allergic to them) can go a long way to improving the quality of your life. Sources for this article include: NIH.gov ScienceDirect.com AACRJournals.org NIH.org To read the original article click here. For more articles from NaturalHealth365 click here.

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