Radio waves used to destroy liver tumors

HOUSTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Texas researchers say animal tests show liver tumors can be destroyed by inserting carbon nanotubes that are heated with non-invasive radio waves.

The report, posted online in the journal Cancer, said the technique destroyed liver cancer tumors in rabbits. Researchers from The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Rice University said the next step is to find ways to more precisely target the nanotubes to avoid all normal tissue.

Dr. Steven Curley, a surgical oncologist at M.D. Anderson who was senior author of the report, said researchers are trying to bind the nanotubes to antibodies, peptides or other agents that target molecules expressed on cancer cells.

In the liver cancer experiment, a solution of single-walled carbon nanotubes was injected directly into the tumors. Four treated rabbits were then exposed to two minutes of radio frequency treatment, resulting in thermal destruction of their tumors, researchers said Thursday in a news release.

Carbon nanotubes are hollow cylinders of pure carbon that measure about a billionth of a meter across.