University of Missouri researcher and professor M. Frederick Hawthorne developed a breakthrough cancer treatment using a new form of radiation, which put cancer cells in remission in mice.
Unlike traditional radiation and chemotherapy treatments, the breakthrough treatment did not yield any harmful side effects in the mice.
But now the MU researcher is looking for $6 million to begin clinical trials in humans and larger animals.
“A wide variety of cancers can be attacked with our BNCT technique,” Hawthorne said in a statement. “The technique worked excellently in mice. We are ready to move on to trials in larger animals, then people. However, before we can start treating humans, we will need to build suitable equipment and facilities. When it is built, MU will have the first radiation therapy of this kind in the world,” Hawthorne said.