Sen. Arlen Specter is working to put a Washington County native's experimental cancer treatment on the funding fast track so animal testing can begin at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

During a news conference in Erie last week, Specter, R-Pa., described the medical invention of John Kanzius, 60, of Millcreek, Erie County, as "very promising."

"We're going to work on it promptly," Specter said. "The wheels of bureaucracy work faster when dealing with a killer disease."

Kanzius, who holds neither a college nor medical degree, used his expertise in building and operating radio and television stations and his observations of patients while he was fighting B-cell leukemia, to design what he hopes is a way to use radio waves to kill cancerous tumors and cells.

His invention includes an as-yet-undisclosed technique for sensitizing cancer cells to the effects of radio frequency radiation. The idea is to create a fatal fever in cancer cells without affecting healthy cells.

If his method proves out, Kanzius' patent will provide a New Age cancer treatment that forgoes the debilitating side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. It could prove to be effective for many forms of cancer, including leukemia and brain tumors.

Specter has asked the National Institutes of Health and NIH's Cancer Institute to find money so animal testing can begin under the direction of Dr. David A. Geller, co-director of UPMC's Liver Cancer Center.

Specter also has included language in his annual report as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education that exhorts the subcommittee to "please, move on this," said his spokesman, Charles Robbins.

Geller, who introduced the technology known as radio wave ablation to UPMC, said Kanzius' method could take technology to a new level.

Radio wave ablation requires a probe to contact the tumor via a surgical procedure. Although a successful treatment method, it's invasive and does not kill metastasized cancer cells -- those that have migrated to other parts of the body.

Kanzius' procedure is noninvasive and provides a way to target all cancer cells. As such, Geller has described Kanzius' invention as a potential breakthrough.

Once funding is available, Geller said, animal testing would take one to three years to complete. UPMC is in the process of applying for NIH funding. If animal testing is successful, UPMC would seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to conduct human trials.

"We need the [invention] prototype and the seed money," Geller said.

Energy-Onix, a Valatie, N.Y., company that produces AM and FM radio transmitters, is working to complete the prototype of Kanzius' radio wave generator by mid-October.

Bernard Wise, Energy-Onix owner, said his company was doing the work free of charge for his friend and former customer.

"Everything I do is for money, but this is one time money does not matter," Wise said. "I want to give him the tool to prove that his system works, and we will deliver it in 60 days.

"It makes sense to me," he said. "This will benefit humanity."

While Specter is seeking federal funds, state Rep. John Evans, R-Erie County, said he would seek state funds for testing. He's a former employee of Kanzius at WJET-TV in Erie.

"He's energetic enough to spearhead this with his own money, and that continues to amaze me," Evans said.

Kanzius filed for a patent in May. Kanzius, who holds a technical degree in electronics, is a former RCA employee who worked with radio and television transmitters, built radio stations and eventually became a partner with Jet Broadcasting, which owned and operated radio and television stations. In 1982, Kanzius became a partner, then president a year later.

After he was diagnosed in 2002 with rare B-cell leukemia, he underwent three rounds of chemotherapy before his cancer went into remission. It was during chemotherapy that he experienced its side effects and witnessed how it affected others.

He sold his last radio station in November and retired with a new goal of developing his invention.

Unable to sleep during his chemotherapy, he spent long nights researching cancer biology and working on his radio wave generator, which he tested on steaks and other animal tissue.

Landing federal funding to test his invention would eliminate "a huge hurdle," Kanzius said.

"I'm flabbergasted [Specter] is willing to do this," he said. "This is moving faster than anyone could have anticipated."