A cure for cancer?

I reported on a potential cancer cure for our January 12 issue. Here is the report:

A maverick Bangalore scientist is ready to ship out the first 60 units of a cancer treatment device he has been perfecting over the last 20 years.

Cytotron machines, designed and developed by Dr Rajah Vijay Kumar (44), are going to hospitals across the world, besides to cities in India, through this year, starting April.

The device uses what he describes as "a hitherto unexplored method of altering cell dynamics", and offers new hope for cancer patients.

Vijay Kumar's work defies conventional oncology, which believes cancers can be treated only with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Modern clinical practice is convinced cancer can only be managed, not cured.

Terror analogy: "The problem is caused by rogue cells," Vijay Kumar told MiD DAY in the course of a two-hour interview at his research centre on Bangalore's outskirts. "And these cells are extremely smart."

Vijay Kumar gives the terrorist analogy to describe how cancer strikes: misguided cells infiltrate and penetrate vital organs, and cause severe destruction.

The electronics and communications engineer has spent over two decades developing a machine that uses mild radio waves, similar to those used by FM radio and mobile phones, to correct malfunctioning cells and restore patients to health.

But not everyone is convinced he has a breakthrough on his hands. Dr M S Belliappa, consultant surgical oncologist, Apollo Hospital, said, "Cancer is a group of more than 100 different diseases characterised by the uncontrolled, abnormal growth of cells. These new inventions just relieve you of pain and don't really do anything more."

But patients are ready to vouch for the effectiveness of Cytotron.

Success story: Dr Parthasarathy Rengarajan (57), an ENT surgeon fom Mettur in Tamil Nadu, was diagnosed with brain cancer four years ago. He was tired of conventional treatment, and approached Vijay Kumar. "Within a week, I was feeling better," he said.

Dr Rengarajan was given Cytotron treatment and monitored for six months. He now goes for MRI scans once in three months and believes his tumour is benign. Three other patients MiD DAY spoke to had encouraging, grateful things to say about Cytotron. (See panel at the bottom of this page).

Five-year milestone: Vijay Kumar is aware the medical establishment will have hard questions, but is convinced he is on the right track. "We've seen patients survive deadly tumours for four years," he said. "Once we cross the five-year mark, we can declare it a potential cure."

Vijay Kumar has also had stupendous success treating osteo-arthritis, a disease that affects the bones and makes mobility difficult.

Medical textbooks say cartilage tissue, or what the doctors call "a terminally differentiated cell type", can't re-grow, but his centre has treated at least 300 osteo-arthritis patients who can now walk without pain.

Cytotron resembles an MRI machine, and the Centre for Advanced Research at K R Puram, where Vijay Kumar works from, runs three units. MRI machines use magnetic waves to detect abnormalities, and are widely used as a diagnostic tool.

MRI calibration

"We first calibrate the proton density of the therapeutic radio waves with the help of a basic MRI scanner," said Vijay Kumar. Once the calculations are done, customised radio waves are beamed on to the affected area.

"If a patient has two tumours, the frequency and modulation are calibrated separately for each," he explained.

A session lasts an hour, when the patient lies down and receives the radio waves under the influence of a specific magnetic field.

Typically, 28 daily sessions make up a cycle of treatment. The cycle is repeated after a review, if the doctors feel the patient needs continued treatment.

Himalayan meeting: Dr Ranjit, an ex-Air Vice Marshal who graduated in medicine from Pune, plans and administers the therapy.

"Dr Vijay Kumar is an old friend, and we met at an altitude of 30,000 feet," he said. The friends share a passion for mountaineering, and were fellow-travellers on an aircraft somewhere above the Himalayas.

Dr B S Ajai Kumar, consultant radiation oncologist and chairman of Bangalore Institute of Oncology, said, "Cytotron could be a path-breaking technology but we don't exactly know if the malignant tumour is completely destroyed. Though conventional treatments are painful, they are effective. These days people come up with innovative ways to treat health problems, but they have side-effects."

The use of radio frequency to destroy tumours is not new. Radio frequency ablation (RFA), for instance, is used to destroy liver and lung tumours, and it is minimally invasive.

"Conventional radiotherapy uses ionising radiation at the high frequency end of the electromagnetic spectrum, and can cause collateral damage," Vijay Kumar said.

Cytotron, on the other hand, uses a more benign, non-ionising approach, and is said to have no side effect except fatigue. It does not require cutting of the body.

The Institutional Review Board and the Institution Ethical Committee have allowed the centre to conduct clinical trials only on terminally ill cancer patients.

"As of today, 62.2 per cent of terminally ill cancer patients treated are still alive, and 98 per cent have enjoyed a better quality of life," said Vijay Kumar. The centre has treated 130 cancer patients so far, all for free.

Dr Somashekar, consultant surgical oncologist, Manipal Hospital, sees only a limited role for Cytotron.

"There aren't many alternative therapies for cancer. Cytotron can be helpful in the initial stages but it can't help in serious cases. Radiation and chemotherapy are the only way to treat cancer at the moment. I'm not saying Cytotron is a failure; it can only be supportive," he said.

Scalene Cybernetics, which is funding the Cytotron efforts and of which Vijay Kumar is chairman, can currently produce 100 units a year.

Vijay Kumar's engineering solution to a medical problem brings promise to patients living out a dire prognosis.

The mild-mannered inventor believes word is spreading, and will spread faster once the 60 machines start showing results. Cytotron machines are going to hospitals in Europe, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Singapore this year.

(Additional reporting by Lavanya Srinivasan)

I had two lumps in my breast... Once treatment began, a lump shrank and became benign
Shashikala(45), who was diagnosed with cancer seven months ago

I feel fine, except for some weakness
Rashmi Priya (49), battling lung cancer, and under Cytotron treatment for a week

His left side was paralysed. He can now use his left hand
Chandrika, mother of Rohan Ganesh (4), brain cancer patient from Mysore


Indian Medical Association take

Dr Vishi Shanmuganathan, secretary of the Bangalore chapter of Indian Medical Association, told MiD DAY, "I've never heard about Cytotron... this is the first time I'm hearing about it. Without knowing details of how it works, I can't say much." He also said it was difficult to say whether cancer could be cured. "Even when people are undergoing treatment, it spreads. Cancer can be treated temporarily but there are chances it will come back somewhere else if not in the same place."


Who's Rajah Vijay Kumar?

Vijay Kumar graduated in electronics engineering from Bangalore University. In 1991, the University of Belfast awarded him a doctor of science degree in medical engineering. Vijay Kumar loves the arts, especially theatre. He acted as Mysore warrior-king Tipu Sultan's son in a school play, and is playing a serial killer in the Kannada film Ninagaagi Kaadiruve (I Wait for You), due for release in a month.

Vijay Kumar's success hasn't come easy. When he started independent research as a 24-year-old scientist, his peers thought he was crazy.

He first hypothesized he could heal broken bones with radio waves, but since there was no way he could conduct trials on real patients, he broke his leg on a crowbar.

"I could achieve total consolidation of the fractured bone in 15 days," he said. "Sometimes we have to experiment on ourselves to prove a point."

'Total consolidation' is a doctorly way of saying he was healed completely.

His prototype treated 12 other patients with confirmed non-healing fractures during 1987-88, and he presented the results at the Karnataka Orthopaedic Association.

That episode puts him in the league of doctors such as Dr Richard Bernstein, who have turned conventional medical wisdom on its head by experimenting on themselves. After years of trial and error, Dr Bernstein has arrived at a low-carb protocol, endorsed by many patients but considered controversial by mainstream doctors, for the treatment of diabetes.