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Sound Waves Kill Skin and Prostate Cancer Cells

Posted by samzenpus on from the sing-the-cancer-away dept.

Anonymous Coward writes "A recent Study in the British Journal of Cancer shows that the use of Quercitin and 20KHz ultrasound for 60 seconds killed skin and prostate cancer cells. 90% of the abnormal cells were dead within 48hrs. Since low frequency ultrasound was previously shown to enhance the skin penetration of topical substances up to 1000 times, it would seem that a topical Quercetin cream with a low frequency ultrasound wand might be just the ticket for those annoying little skin cancers that tend to occur in older geeks who have spent a bit of time in the sun."

107 comments

  1. Killing cancer? by ZaBu911 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sounds great!

    --
    PayPal $$ if you sign up for free offers (eBay, cred cards, e
    1. Re:Killing cancer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      :) Nice pun. Sorry that I don't have any mod points. Sadly, you can expect those with no sense of humor to mod you as "offtopic".

    2. Re:Killing cancer? by Bradee-oh! · · Score: 1

      14 comments in and no funny mod?

      Bravo.

      --
      "This is Zombo Com, and welcome to you who have come to Zombo Com" - www.zombo.com
    3. Re:Killing cancer? by nonuttin · · Score: 1
      killed skin and prostate cancer cells

      What I want to know is how did they get that cream on a prostate?

    4. Re:Killing cancer? by ntshma · · Score: 0

      Let me guess, to use the wand to kill prostate cancer you have to get the wand near the prostate? Does this cream have lubricant properties?

  2. Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny
    geeks who have spent a bit of time in the sun

    They exist?

    1. Re:Wow by (negative+video) · · Score: 4, Funny
      geeks who have spent a bit of time in the sun
      They exist?
      What is this "sun" of which you speak?
    2. Re:Wow by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 3, Funny

      They exist?

      Depends... do they mean "in the Sun(TM)"?

    3. Re:Wow by brilinux · · Score: 1

      Have you ever read or seen some science fiction? So, they talk about traveling to distant planets and stars and such, but it turns out that there is actually some truth in this; we are all actually on a planet called "Earth", orbiting a star called, "the Sun". It is quite intriguing, actually.

    4. Re:Wow by Almost-Retired · · Score: 1

      Well, not ALL of us are die-hard geeks about sitting in front of a computer in the weak light of man-made lights ALL the time.

      I've had to have 3 spots removed from my face by freezing, and one on my back by a little deeper cutting, it came back negative though.

      In addition to the computer work over the last 25+ years, I've also logged a few hundred thousand on a motorcycle, made the form and poured the blocks and laid up a retaining wall about 44" high & 100 feet long over the last 3 summers, in addition to the usual yard work & an occasional fishing trip. By the end of summer this 71 year old white boy looks pretty dark allthough its not as even as it was 60 years ago, darnit...

      So yes, you could generally say that I don't need a vitamin D suplement in the summertime. :-)

      I find this to be an interesting story in view of the fact that I'm now at that age where prostate problems can be worrysome but aren't just yet.

      I get the feeling that with all the medical things we've discovered, and the rate of discovery, will if intelligently applied, are such that the first person to outlive Methusaleh has already been born. He will of course be independently wealthy because it will be charged for by the sharks^H^H^H^H^Hmedical profession who see such as a way to collect even more money. It won't be me by any means since I've developed insulin resistance and have to watch my sugar intake pretty closely, and failure to do that will eventually lead to all sorts of circulation problems that lead to a fatal heart attack. But, at 71, despite the aches and pains, I still feel pretty good most of the time, so I have hope for a few more years yet. I need to lose another 30 lbs to match the 30 I've taken off since being told to read my sugar a year ago, but that seems to have hit a cold weather standstill & will wait till I get back out and work it off come warm weather again.

      OTOH TPTB who control this, would look at my passing as a plus for SS's financial future, hence I don't expect to see real efforts made to implement much of this on the population as a whole due to the price to be charged for these "unusual" services. It is not in societies best interest that I draw SS based on the 55 years I worked and contributed to SS, for another 40 years. With the effects of inflation, my withdrawal rate (ignoreing the interest income I could have made had that money been invested in a compound bearing account all these years, but thats another beef entirely) I will have used up my contributions in another year or so.

      The key phrase is TANSTAAFL, whether TPTB spell it out in understandable terms or not, which generally speaking, will not be done in words that Joe Sixpack will grok. That could^H^H^H^H^Hwould lead to serious social problems for TPTB at the end of the day.

      American SS would be in seriously deep excrement if everyone lived for 5 years past their retirement party, and I haven't quite done that yet myself as I worked till I was 67. Many don't even make it to the party and thats all part of the equation that makes it almost work as the best ponzi scheme ever perpetrated on the american public, by the government no less. :-)

      Extending the lifespan, without also extending the productive working years in roughly the same proportion, as was done by the last modifications to the SS act, simply is not good fiscal responsibility. Either that, or a much larger fraction of the working income is paid in taxes to support the benefits paid out for the longer lifespan. I believe some of that effect is seen in tax rates paid by the working class in the more socialist Scandinavian countries.

      And thats my $0.02, adjust for inflation since 1934, then discount as required.

      --
      Cheers, Gene

    5. Re:Wow by dcapel · · Score: 1

      oh, you mean Sol! Oh, if your inferring we are actually in /Terra/, then of course I know what you primitives call the sun.

      --
      DYWYPI?
    6. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nudists are just another type of geek. They probably get enough sun to make up for the rest of us.

    7. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sun: AKA, The Dreaded Day Star. 1) That which arises as the typical geek is trying to get to sleep. 2) That which heats the seats of the 1969 Vista Cruiser to a skin peeling temperature. 3) That which could kill us in a mere 7 minutes should it choose to belch (or fart for that matter). 4) That which is responsible for knocking out satellite and radio transmission, and causing blackouts when a sufficient number of vestal virgins have not been sacrificed to in witness of it's almighty power! 5) That which makes the sky glow in the northern territories, in an "aurora" of trippy colors and patterns (or maybe it was the windowpane, but everyone said it was the sun...). 6) That which causes you to blink when emerging from the cooconish basement of your parent's humble abode...

  3. Time in the Sun by namespan · · Score: 1

    "might be just the ticket for those annoying little skin cancers that tend to occur in older geeks who have spent a bit of time in the sun."

    Interesting. Is this some kind of career benefit one accrues with experience or time spent at the company?

    --
    Libertarianism is rich wolves and poor sheep playing gambler's ruin for dinner.
    1. Re:Time in the Sun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's all the unprotected CRTs. They're hell on your DNA.

    2. Re:Time in the Sun by turrican · · Score: 1

      Interesting. Is this some kind of career benefit one accrues with experience or time spent at the company?

      Neither. The exposure usually occurs near the beginning, when you're the FNG (f'ing new geek) and are the one sent out on a 7-11 run.

      Of course, not having to do this is yet ANOTHER benefit of having snackies on-site.

  4. Text of Article for those who can't get BJC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    Therapeutic selectivity plays a crucial role in determining the success of chemotherapy. Some of the current targeted therapies attempt to localise drugs to cancer cells based on overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) (Mendelsohn and Baselga, 2000) or angiogenesis (Carter, 2001). Antibodies, inhibitors, antisense therapy and gene therapy are also among a few strategies that have gained momentum (Guillemard and Saragovi, 2004). Many of these strategies have now reached clinical trials; however, these methods are still limited by issues including low potency, delivery complications, multi-drug resistance, side effects, collateral damage (Tattersall and Clarke, 2003) or incomplete success (Lynch et al, 2004). In an attempt to develop a targeted chemotherapeutic strategy, we propose the use of bioflavonoids, which are common dietary supplements, in conjunction with low-frequency ultrasound. Quercetin, a major bioflavonoid in human diet, has been identified as a chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of breast cancer (Singhal et al, 1995; Choi et al, 2001), colon cancer (Salucci et al, 2002), ovarian cancer (Chan et al, 2003) and prostate cancer (Knowles et al, 2000; Nakanoma et al, 2001; Kobayashi et al, 2002). Antiproliferative action of quercetin is hypothesised to be mediated by attenuating phosphorylation of activated hsp transcription factor (hsf), shortly after its trimerisation (Nagai et al, 1995; Lee et al, 1998), thereby resulting in increased susceptibility of hsf to proteolytic degradation and as a consequence inhibiting all downstream events, including hsp expression (Li et al, 1999). Since hsps are constitutively overexpressed in many tumours (Jaattela, 1999), inhibition of hsps is an attractive chemotherapeutic strategy. hsps form a complex with mutant p53 protein (mp53), thereby prolonging the half-life of malignant mp53 and allowing tumour cells to bypass the normal mechanism of cell cycle arrest (Selkirk et al, 1996). In spite of its therapeutic benefits, utilisation of quercetin in clinical applications has been limited by low potency and poor specificity. Additionally, it is difficult to sustain therapeutic quercetin concentrations in blood by oral ingestion (Lamson and Bringall, 2000). Here, through in vitro studies, we demonstrate for the first time, using two pairs of normal and cancer cells (human skin fibroblast and human prostate epithelial cells), that ultrasound selectively sensitises cancer cells against quercetin. LC50 of quercetin for skin cancer cells is selectively decreased by almost 80-fold by a short pretreatment with ultrasound. MATERIALS AND METHODS Cell culture Normal and cancer cells derived from prostrate and skin tissues were investigated in this study. DU145 prostate cancer cells were provided by Dr L Wilson at UC Santa Barbara, CA, USA. Nonmalignant prostrate normal cells (Catalog No. CRL-11609), nonmalignant skin cells (Catalog No. CRL-7761) and skin cancer cells (Catalog No. CRL-7762) were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC, Rockville, MD, USA). All cells were grown as monolayers and were kept in a 5% CO2 environment at 371C. Cell cultures were maintained in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) with glucose (1 g l1), NaHCO3 (3.7 g l1), L-glutamine (2mM), nonessential amino acids (0.0815 g l1) and 10% FBS. Antibiotic-antimycotic cocktail (Catalog No. 15240-062, Gibco, Invitrogen Corporation, Carlsbad, CA, USA), at a final concentration of 100Uml1 of penicillin, 100 mgml1 of streptomycin and 0.25 mgml1 of amphotericin B, was added to all cultures. Cells were harvested at a concentration of about 3105 cells ml1, by washing with versene (NaCl - 8 g l1, KCl - 0.2 g l1, NaH2PO4 - 1.15 g l1, K2HPO4 - 0.2 g l1, Na2- EDTA - 0.2 g l1 in distilled water with pH adjusted to 7.2) followed by 2-3-min digestion with trypsin/EDTA (0.25%/0.02%). Revised 1 November 2004; accepted 18 November 2004; published online 1 February 2005 *Correspondence: Dr S Mitragotri; E-mail: samir@engineering.ucsb.edu Ultrasound application and quercetin treatment Aliquo

    1. Re:Text of Article for those who can't get BJC by Krach42 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Serious dude... paragraphs, are awesome.

      --

      I am unamerican, and proud of it!
    2. Re:Text of Article for those who can't get BJC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Serious dude... paragraphs, are awesome."

      So is proper puncutation. You should try it sometime.

    3. Re:Text of Article for those who can't get BJC by Krach42 · · Score: 1

      So is proper puncutation. You should try it sometime.

      You complain about my punctuation, because it does not comply with your educated standards.

      My choice of punctuation was chosen specifically to indicate the pauses in speech that I wanted expressed, and which would have been expressed had I been speaking the words myself.

      Namely, I *wanted* a pause in speech after paragraphs. To break it appart and indicate the use of topicative speech in English, as best as it exists. This would be similar to the usage: "Beans, I like them."

      Just because my puncuation use varies from your strict and narrow confines of perceived authority, does not make it wrong.

      --

      I am unamerican, and proud of it!
    4. Re:Text of Article for those who can't get BJC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "To break it appart and indicate the use of topicative speech in English, as best as it exists."

      Let me gess, now your going to tell me, that you Intended to "use sentence" fragmints with in-corect speling's by macking a joke of were I (place) the comas in my sentences and then proseed to consider me the athority on the intire inglish Language! Hay, i doant "macke the rools", i just fallow them.

      Water you laffing at!

    5. Re:Text of Article for those who can't get BJC by Krach42 · · Score: 1

      I don't find perscriptivism funny.

      Asking for paragraphs so that it doesn't look like a big steaming pile is quit a bit different than nitpicking over a fucking comma.

      --

      I am unamerican, and proud of it!
    6. Re:Text of Article for those who can't get BJC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I don't find perscriptivism funny."

          1) Then why the apparent joke? (You were modded funny, which I am sure you didn't mind.)
          2) I do.
          3) Had to resort to a thesaurus, huh?

      "Asking for paragraphs so that it doesn't look like a big steaming pile is quit a bit different than nitpicking over a fucking comma."

          Sadly, you are mistaken misplaced commas!! (And other incorrect) Punctuation, make things more difficult? To read than one, long paragraph.

      I would be nitpicking if I made fun of your spelling of "quite".

      You sure can dole out the jokes, but you don't seem to take them too well. You remind me of Fred (Eric) Norris.

    7. Re:Text of Article for those who can't get BJC by Krach42 · · Score: 1

      1) Then why the apparent joke? (You were modded funny, which I am sure you didn't mind.)

      Because I don't see paragraphation as the same as perscriptivism.

      2) I do.

      I can respect that, and I get the joke... NOW. Of course, intonation and body language would have made your joke easier to grasp at the time.

      3) Had to resort to a thesaurus, huh?

      WTF? I've not opened a thesaurus in a long time.

      Sadly, you are mistaken misplaced commas!! (And other incorrect) Punctuation, make things more difficult? To read than one, long paragraph.

      Actually, I had no difficulty reading your sentence, despite the unusual punctuation. True, you through me off with the "!!", but the rest of it? I didn't even notice. I'm sorry if my ability to deal with variations of punctuation is different from yours; doubly so if that offends you.

      On the other hand-- for me-- improper punctuation with paragraphation still leads to legible text, that is interpretable. Interestingly, to me, punctuation is one of those nitpicky items, that I just skip or read over. But when presented with a nasty huge glob of text that is entirely impossible for my eyes to visually break apart, my mind says, "fuck this."

      I would be nitpicking if I made fun of your spelling of "quite".

      1.) Typo
      2.) Mentioning that you would mention it, is still mentioning it.

      You sure can dole out the jokes, but you don't seem to take them too well. You remind me of Fred (Eric) Norris.

      Oh, I can take jokes, and I really do try to take them as well as one can... when they're funny. I didn't find your joke particularly funny. (Please don't get mad at me because my sense of humor doesn't align with yours.)

      In my opinion, perhaps you should work on your delivery. Something to make it obvious that you're being a jokester. Like: "Hey, also good, is proper, use, of punctuation!!"

      Hell, if you'd started off with that, I'd have gotten your joke right at the start, and we'd have avoided this long stupid argument over stupid typos, and comma usage, and crappy delivery of stupid jokes.

      --

      I am unamerican, and proud of it!
  5. Full-text of article: by mendaliv · · Score: 2, Funny

    Induction of cancer-specific cytotoxicity towards human prostate and skin cells using quercetin and ultrasound (god that's a mouthful)

    1. Re:Full-text of article: by mendaliv · · Score: 1

      Erk, broken link!
      Induction of cancer-specific cytotoxicity towards human prostate and skin cells using quercetin and ultrasound... whoops.

  6. iDoctor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I just downloaded that to my iPod and I'm using it to remove my tattoos.

  7. Now bend over as I... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    insert this speaker...

    Oh where is John Katz when you need him?

  8. Slight problem eh? by product+byproduct · · Score: 3, Funny

    Too bad the 20 Kelvin*Hertz waves kill skin.

    1. Re:Slight problem eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      well they do use liquid nitrogen to freeze off skin tumors but Nitrogen condenses at a balmy 77 K.
      And since when is 20 kHz 'low frequency'

    2. Re:Slight problem eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      "And since when is 20 kHz 'low frequency'"

      Sorry, there wasn't enough room to put Low Frequency Ultrasound
      in the title. 20KHz is considered the low end of ultrasound.
      Happy?

    3. Re:Slight problem eh? by qbwiz · · Score: 2, Informative

      KHz is Kelvin-Hertz. kHz is kilohertz. Notice the capitalization. It's the same thing as kB versus kb.

      --
      Ewige Blumenkraft.
    4. Re:Slight problem eh? by Wilson_6500 · · Score: 1

      Someone messed up in the summary. The Pubmed abstract (first link) says 20 kHz meaning kilohertz.

      I think anyone using kelvin-hertz as a unit--for whatever unholy reason--would at least have the decency to write Hz-K or K-Hz to remove ambiguity.

    5. Re:Slight problem eh? by schon · · Score: 1

      It's the same thing as kB versus kb.

      Actually, I think that the "k" stands for "kilo" (or "kibi", if you're retarded) in both of those. :o)

    6. Re:Slight problem eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't seem to find anything goolging (or is it Googling) for "Kelvin Hertz" that
      indicates it is ever used as a term of measurement. Therefore the
      capitalization seems to be a moot point to me. 20kHz ultrasound device designers
      shouldn't be confused.

      please type the word in this image: violator

    7. Re:Slight problem eh? by DaemanUhr · · Score: 1

      It's the same thing as kB versus kb.

      Actually, I think that the "k" stands for "kilo" (or "kibi", if you're retarded) in both of those. :o)

      Actually, I think the point was, kB and kb are not the same thing: the capital B in the former means bytes, while the lowercase b in the latter means bits. 800 kB does not equal 800 kb. Don't f*ck up the capitalization is the lesson here. KHz and kHz are two very different things.
  9. Would that be by RaNdOm+OuTpUt · · Score: 0

    Is that "skin cancer" and "prostate cancer" cells or "skin" and "prostate cancer" cells? (fp?)

    --
    13. Any legal action is absolutly excluded. (Pi World Ranking List rules)
    1. Re:Would that be by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There was not enough room in the title for redundant words to
      please all the grammar Nazis. I sense you lack focus youngling.

      Cancer treatment. No side effects. Cheap.

  10. Slashdot by noz · · Score: 1
    "... those annoying little skin cancers that tend to occur in older geeks who have spent a bit of time in the sun."
    So noone on Slashdot then?
    1. Re:Slashdot by Caspian · · Score: 1

      He's on Slashdot now?

      Dude, I MUST find this Noone guy, I've been hearing his name EVERYWHERE.

      --
      With spending like this, exactly what are "conservatives" conserving?
  11. Sun ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Sun? Only serious geeks program those... This is one of the few times I'm glad I program a Windows box.

  12. Groovy baby by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe protiens and waves have something in common.

  13. Just perfect... by nemik · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now I have to choose between keeping my skin or avoiding prostate cancer....

    --
    Blog via SMS text messaging
  14. Now I have an excuse... by gmf · · Score: 1

    I didn't fart, that was my prostate cancer prophylaxis!

  15. Misleading headline by TeknoHog · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I didn't even RTFA, but it seems from the summary that the sound itself doesn't kill the cancer cells -- it helps the drug penetrate into the tissue.

    --
    Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    1. Re:Misleading headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      It sensitizes the cells as well as acting as a penetrant for
      the Quercetin. BTW calling Quercetin a drug is a misnomer. It
      is a nutrient (bioflavanoid to be specific).

    2. Re:Misleading headline by c_fel · · Score: 2, Funny

      You're right. It helps the drug penetrate the body. And I tried it. I smoked my pot while listening a low frequency ultrasound and I felt 90% stoner !

      --
      I hate all sigs, mine included.
  16. Only 90%? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I haven't read TFA, but if this process only kills 90% of the cancer cells, won't the regrowth eventually become resistant?

    D

    1. Re:Only 90%? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The other 10% survive because the ultrasound helps them metastasize and spread to the rest of the body.

    2. Re:Only 90%? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Incorrect. In any case, adding Curcurmin to the mix would solve that
      problem -- http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010221/cth3.htm .

      http://www.thepowerhour.com/curcumin/Turmeric.pdf (warning pdf)

      I love it.

    3. Re:Only 90%? by Wilson_6500 · · Score: 1

      Combine this with standard treatments. I'm not a doctor, but I would guess you can irradiate these types of tumors.

    4. Re:Only 90%? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Regardless, if tumeric is effective in fighting cancer (I don't disbelieve the study BTW), it has many other disease fighting abilities. There's a number of articles on in it in some European Journals of Gastroenterology (the US based ones haven't 'discovered it yet' since it can't be patented ;) ).

      If you have an upset stomach, a couple of tumeric pills should make you feel better. It works really well.

    5. Re:Only 90%? by Mo6eB · · Score: 0

      This won't be a problem. For the cells to become resistant, they would have to mutate. When they mutate, their DNA won't match yours and your immune system will clean them up in no time.

      The whole problem with cancer, is that its DNA matches your DNA, so your immune system doesn't reject those cells.

  17. What else kills cancer... by benjamindees · · Score: 1

    I love how slashdot goes from Bill Gates' taxes, to Chuck Norris, to cures for cancer.

    --
    "I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
  18. Wow, keep my skin or be rid of my prostrace cancer by acercanto · · Score: 1

    Hard choice there. The title actually talks about killing skin cancer cells as well as prostrate cancer cells...

    --
    You can have only two of the following three qualities when developing a product: cheap, fast or good.
  19. Geeks Don't Know From Fiery Orb in Sky by gadlaw · · Score: 1

    What is that fiery orb in the sky? I'm pretty sure the incidence of skin cancer in geeks is way way below that of the rest of the population. Now if we're talking carpel tunnel syndrome then we're into geek territory. But the sun? Geeks live indoors.

    --
    Enjoy your Karma, after all you earned it. Feel your Karma Joe, feel it burn.
  20. sound by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What was that?

  21. Where? by triso · · Score: 2, Interesting
    "A recent Study in the British Journal of Cancer shows that the use of Quercitin and 20KHz ultrasound for 60 seconds killed skin and prostate cancer cells....
    So, where do you rub the Quercitin cream and place the ultrasound probe to kill prostate cancer cells?
    1. Re:Where? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 2, Funny

      It rubs the cream upon it's skin. Or else it gets the probe again.

    2. Re:Where? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since the pubic bone is rather thick, I'd guess you'd be
      talking a quercetin enema. Might sound gross but for someone with
      one of the most deadly and painful cancers -- I'd doubt there
      would be much objection. The ultrasound should have no problems
      penetrating the bone though. But...I think you could stand a
      60 second ultrasonic quercetin enema if it meant it would save your
      life. I'm sure the Hulk could have handled it.
      http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0084642/

      Please type the word in this image: external

  22. Picky, picky. by twitter · · Score: 4, Informative
    There's not much to read besides abstracts and that's too bad. One of the abstracts said it well:

    Pretreatment of cells with ultrasound (20 kHz, 2 W cm(-2), 60 s) selectively induced cytotoxicity in skin and prostate cancer cells, while having minimal effect on corresponding normal cell lines.

    Selective toxicity is what cancer treatment is all about, so while the sound man not "kill" cancer, it's a promising treatment.

    It would be nice to see the actual studies. I'd like to see the statistics, and see if any other methods were tried and the researcher's reasoning. It may be that dysplastic cells are susceptible to sonic damage and this might work with other therapy methods, such as xray or heat. I'd also like to know how they treated prostate cancer, which is the number two cancer killer of men in the US.

    --

    Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.

    1. Re:Picky, picky. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Selective use of heat has been applied to a variety of human tumors, in vivo, predominantly by oncologists in the Netherlands. (Google "hyperthermia cancer" for more info.) Cryotherapy, likewise, is a fairly common treatment for recurrent prostate cancer, as well. Both work by inserting little probes into the tissue in question and heating (or cooling), using tempreature measurements as a guideline to direct therapy. (This is a very basic description.)

      The standard of care for treatment of prostate cancer remains surgery or radiation therapy.

      The study quoted is interesting, but VERY preliminary. It was done in vitro, using cells in a Petrie dish. This does not even remotely approximately a real-life situation. I am unclear, for instance, how one would get the activating agent into the prostate. If something like this pans out, I predict it will be at least 10 years away.

    2. Re:Picky, picky. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      "The standard of care for treatment of prostate cancer remains surgery or radiation therapy."

      IOW death. Either quickly by poisoning, or slowly from the other cancers the radiation induces.
      Thanks, but no thanks.

      "If something like this pans out, I predict it will be at least 10 years away"

      I have no doubt that, in conventional circles, it will not. Neither quercetin nor
      20kHz ultrasound wands require: a prescription, millions of dollars in drug development
      money, or are patentable. The economic incentive for big Pharma is not there.

      Since 20kHz increases the penetration of topical substances, it should be very easy to
      run a trial on skin cancer patients. I doubt such a trial will ever occur. But that fact won't
      stop a skin cancer patient from buying some quercetin, dissolving it in fat
      (coconut oil woould work), applying it topically, and exposing the area to 20kHz.

      Egads! Humans treating themselves for medical issues! The horror! Next they'll be riding
      bicycles instead of driving cars! When will it end!

    3. Re:Picky, picky. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There was some research a while ago using much higher energy ultrasound to kill prostate cancer. The sound energy could be better focused so, unlike radiotherapy, not killing nearby very useful tissue like the bowel and bladder control system.

  23. Woot by JDWTopGuy · · Score: 1

    1. Make CD full of songs with proper frequencies
    2. Kill cancer
    3. ?????
    4. PROFIT!!!

    --
    Ron Paul 2012
    1. Re:Woot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That should be 3 question marks, not five.

    2. Re:Woot by bobzieruncle · · Score: 1

      1. Make CD full of songs with proper frequencies
      2. Kill cancer
      3. ???
      4. PROFIT!!!
      Step 1 has been done already. It just remains for someone to scour the delete bins for old *Nsync and Boyz II Men albums and repackage them as cures for cancer. ;-)

    3. Re:Woot by JDWTopGuy · · Score: 1

      No, you're confused... boy bands cause cancer, not cure it.

      --
      Ron Paul 2012
    4. Re:Woot by bobzieruncle · · Score: 1

      Boy bands are a cancer. Fight fire with fire, I say.

  24. As bad as it is to joke around about cancer... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I mean, this is absolutely terrible to think about, but wouldn't it be hilarious to see some guy holding a speaker to his nuts blasting Barry White just to get rid of cancer?

  25. Marketer's dream by itwerx · · Score: 2, Funny

    just the ticket for those annoying little skin cancers that tend to occur in older geeks who have spent a bit of time in the sun.

    Oh yeah, and we all know that's a billion-dollar market just waiting be tapped! :)

  26. Sun washed geek by imposterX · · Score: 1

    Hey guys, not all geeks adhere to the strict cathode ray glow suntan. I for one sport a genuine tan, although it's not hard to get in an Australian summer. This is sometimes the thing that irritates me about the nerd cliche. Although many people live the cliche, there are probably many more "nerds" out there that are playing sport and out in the sun all the time. my 2c

    1. Re:Sun washed geek by Jippy+T+Flounder · · Score: 1

      once again - the geek is the one with the suntan. the nerd is the one with the umbrella, 2 inches of sunscreen pasted on his face, and he's probably wearing his trenchcoat on the beach. of course - this is all in the unlikely event that he's ventured so far as to get to the sand.

      --
      ---- I was woken up this morning by a face full of fur. Damn cat thought my head made a good pillow.
    2. Re:Sun washed geek by vidarh · · Score: 1

      It's not that easy. The geek/nerd distinctions varies markedly by geography, from slight differences to having switched place completely. And in many places there isn't any distinction between the two terms at all.

    3. Re:Sun washed geek by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're not from around here are you?

    4. Re:Sun washed geek by Jippy+T+Flounder · · Score: 1

      then in the interests of public safety, perhaps it would be wise if we standardized. i believe that if we create a consortium, we can bring all interested parties under one umbrella, and get some decisions made.

      --
      ---- I was woken up this morning by a face full of fur. Damn cat thought my head made a good pillow.
  27. oooh! by La+Fourmi+Nihiliste · · Score: 0

    well this calls for a new iPod accessory: the 20KHz ultrasound stick. and it should come complete with topical Quercetin cream. but for the 60 secs of 20KHz Ultrasound, you will have to buy it 99cents on the iTMS. ant

  28. Vibrating Butt Plug cures cancer? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

    But you have to put the special cream on, too, eh?

  29. Yes Comrade! by Stonent1 · · Score: 3, Funny

    In Soviet Britain, you kill cancer!

  30. Kills what, again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At first, I thought the title was saying that the sound waves kill both prostate cancer cells and skin.

  31. IN SOVIET RUSSIA... by cralewyth · · Score: 1

    ...Prostate kills YOU!

    No, hang on...

    ...Prostate kills YOUR Sound waves!

    Nope, that's not it either...

    ...Sound Waves kill YOUR Prostate!

    Wait wait, that sounds nasty....

    ...Sound Waves kill YOUR Prostate CANCER!

    Yeah, that's it.

    --
    "Women are just like ninjas; They lie even when it is more convenient to tell the truth." ~ Unknown
  32. Re:Bad Googler! BAD!! by 25thCenturyQuaker · · Score: 1

    You must not be too handy at Googling.

    kelvin-hertz relationship (physics.nist.gov)

    Maybe you'd prefer a Pittsburgh (PA)-based acid jazz DJ Kelvin Hertz

    --
    My Human Gets Me Blues.
  33. Spelling Mistake by woolio · · Score: 1

    Sun??? Sun???

    Nah, they just mis-spelled "CRT Monitor"

  34. Re:Bad Googler! BAD!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I saw that.

    The link you reference shows the relationship between the two and NOT
    that the term "Kelvin Hertz" is used as a unit. Since kelvin
    is a temperature unit, presumably the relationship has
    something to do with molecular vibration -- but it is not
    possible to tell from the provided link.

  35. Ouch! by Jugalator · · Score: 2, Funny

    I for one... am not entirely sure I welcome our new sound/vibration emitting anal probe developing overlords. :-/

    --
    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  36. Finally.... by HaydnH · · Score: 1

    ...I knew there had to be a use for all those boy bands!

    --
    Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so. - Douglas Adams
  37. Soundwave kills cancer? by wertarbyte · · Score: 1

    Wait untils he releases his Casetticons - More than meets the eye.

    --
    Life is just nature's way of keeping meat fresh.
    1. Re:Soundwave kills cancer? by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

      Laserbeak, eject. Operation: mastectomy.

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  38. Good news! by Illserve · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I knew decepticons were just misunderstood.

  39. yep, scientist geeks. by oneiros27 · · Score: 1

    There's lots of scientist geeks out there who interact with the sun. (and by 'interact with', I mean, sit in basements and look at pictures of it)

    But I've actually seen some of them go into the big blue room while the glowy thing is still out.

    --
    Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
  40. hmmmm.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Vibrating wand...

    Prostate...

    Must ... not ... visualize ...

  41. 20kHz==ultrasound??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was under the impression that most humans could hear 20Hz to 20kHz, which would mean that 20kHz can't be ultrasound.

  42. In other news... by metamatic · · Score: 1

    In other news, 90 seconds of Britney Spears has been shown to kill brain cells.

    And Bose will be adapting their acoustic waveguide technology to produce a suppository-based speaker that gives you booty-shaking bass while killing colon cancer.

    --
    GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
    1. Re:In other news... by Dastardly · · Score: 1

      Too bad Bose speakers are incapable of reproducing 20Khz. But, not to worry that $150 home theater in a bok has no problem with 20kHz.

  43. Royal Rife did this in the 1930's by AKAJack · · Score: 1

    Well his story is a facisnating read anyways.

    http://www.rife.org/

    I think the conspiracy theories surrounding Rife are as numerous as those on the Kennedy assassination and engines that run on water.

    Rife's basic theory was everything had a frequency - including diseases. If you could find the frequency of the specific disease the person had and then bombard them with high energy RF you could disrupt the disease enough to wipe it out.

    The implementations today range from quack devices to actual medical testing (outside of the U.S.) Lots to be learned still. Great to see people still talking about it and working on it.

  44. acoustic holography by obtuse · · Score: 1

    Use a multi-beam or acoustic holography technique to deliver destructive ultrasound to specific tissues. That may provide sufficiently selective toxicity. Surgery causes its own tissue damage, and I've even heard the needle biopsy described as creating a stream of metastases along the path the needle is withdrawn.

    This is why I was initially apprehensive about diagnostic ultrasound with my kids, but the diagnostic ultrasound process delivers orders of magnitude less energy.

    --
    Assembly is the reverse of disassembly.
  45. I see your 2c and raise you 2 more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You probably don't truly qualify as a geek. Somewhere you got this stupid idea that, these days, it is cool to be a geek, so you call yourself one. It never was cool and never will be cool. Yes, I use a computer, too. I'm not a geek because of it. Geeks don't call themselves geeks, other people brand them geeks.

  46. older geeks who've spent a bit of time in the sun by ralphclark · · Score: 1

    geeks...sun...geeks...sun

    it does not compute

  47. I shouldn't be able to hear ultrasonic by iamlucky13 · · Score: 1

    Depending on the source you refer to, the human audible range is quoted as being as large as 16-22,000 Hz, meaning this falls short of ultrasonic.

    What the article ultimately seems to say, is that listening to Mariah Carey can improve the effectiveness of topical cancer treatments. I say it's not worth it.

  48. Just a general philosophical question by Expert+Determination · · Score: 1

    Why do people say 'sound waves' in contexts such as these? "Sound waves" and "sound" are interchangeable. If sound waves kill cancer cell, sound kills cancer cells. In ordinary conversation we say "sound". We don't say "the sound waves from my stereo are great". So why do we say "sound waves" in this context?

    --
    "The White House is not an intelligence-gathering agency," -- Scott McClellan, Whitehouse spokesman.
  49. Go Science! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    *dances*

  50. Slashdot's gone herbal by tbird81 · · Score: 1
    This study is investigating "applying sound waves" as well as quercetin (a bioflavonoids which are common dietary supplements) to treat cancer.

    Now google "quercetin" and you'll find the sort of market this substance has.

    Sound waves have long been used by quacks to swindle cancer patients out of their money when they're vulnerable.

    The experiment is done in vitro. It involves growing a thin layer of cells in a petri dish (well test tubes in this case). It's not too surprising that sound waves can affect such a small layer of cells. In real life, we are exposed to 20kHz sound all the time! It can destroy the cells in your ears, that's called industrial deafness, but is otherwise harmless.

    The reason they're using skin cells, is that it's easy to grow in culture. It forms a nice thin layer, and will keep growing.

    Cancerous cells also keep growing, so they are often easier to culture than normal cells.

    The treatment apparently harms malignant cells more than normal ones. But due to the nature of the research, I really cannot trust their findings just yet. It's semi-interesting, but really pretty meaningless.

    In terms of harming skin.. it would probably harm other cells too. If it only harmed skin, it wouldn't matter, we'd need a probe to get the soundwaves close to the prostate, sound wouldn't transmit far through a beer gut.