With laboratory success in targeting and killing pancreatic and colorectal cancers, the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston has begun testing a novel cancer treatment in animals.

Human clinical trials remain 2 to 2 1/2 years away.

Washington County native John Kanzius, 64, developed the method of targeting cancer cells with nanoparticles and then killing them with radiofrequency, or RF, energy.

An M.D. Anderson study published online today in the Journal of Experimental Therapeutics and Oncology shows early indications that such targeting is possible. The research team also is developing methods to target leukemia and breast, prostate and ovarian cancers with eventual hope of using RF on all forms of human cancer.

"This proves we can do it, and we can move logically to the next step," said Dr. Steven A. Curley, the oncologist leading the research at M.D. Anderson. Results in animal testing are expected within six months.

An earlier article published by the National Cancer Institute recognized the potential of the Kanzius approach but said success depended on targeting.

"Those of us who have been in the cancer research business for a long time have all been seduced by promising new treatments that never made it out of the lab," said Dr. Leonard Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical director at the American Cancer Society. "But I'd be the last person to say that something will never work."

Doctors also have raised concern that nanoparticles released into the blood after cancer-cell death could find their way into lymphatic tissue or that too rapid destruction of cancer cells could clog the kidneys to the point of failure. Dr. Curley and Mr. Kanzius said such issues are being addressed in their research.

Dr. Curley, who's already had preliminary discussions with the Food and Drug Administration about human clinical trials, estimates $10 million is needed to proceed through FDA trials.

Mr. Kanzius -- whom Discover magazine named last month as one of science's 50 most important, influential and promising people -- also is making progress on the fund-raising end, with golfer Arnold Palmer joining the effort.

"This potential cure is something no one has been able to come up with prior to this," Mr. Palmer said.

Targeting involves spiking cancer cells, but not healthy cells, with particles that heat up to fatal temperatures when exposed to RF.

In the M.D. Anderson study, researchers used Cetuximab, a monoclonal antibody, conjoined with gold nanoparticles, to seek out a protein expressed in pancreatic and colorectal cancers. With targeting in place, the cancer cells in petri dishes were then exposed to RF for two minutes, raising the cell temperature to 129 degrees Fahrenheit. The result was nearly a 100 percent cancer kill.

By May, Mr. Kanzius said he hopes to have a full-body treatment device available for use on humans, but costs could reach $1 million.

Gov. Ed Rendell's spokesman, Chuck Ardo, said efforts are under way to provide state money for the device.

"The governor will continue to show support for John's project and will take whatever steps are available to see that the projects proceed," he said.