BENGALURU: The Centre for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) of the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has designated Cytotron—a device invented in India by a Bengaluru scientist—as a “Breakthrough Device” in the treatment of liver, pancreas and breast cancers.
Cytotron aids in tissue engineering of cancer cells to alter or modify how specific proteins are regulated to cause cancer cells to stop multiplying and spreading.
Cytotron was invented in India by Rajah Vijay Kumar at the Centre for Advanced Research and Development (CARD) after nearly 30 years of research in understanding cellular pathways and interactions with specifically modulated fast radio bursts.
“It is been a great feeling that after so many years of hard work
against all odds, a prestigious institution like the USFDA is
designating our work as a “breakthrough” in the treatment of three
notorious cancers,” Kumar said in a statement.
He told TOI that the
recognition—which comes his way because there haven’t been any new
technologies in cancer treatment—is more valuable because it is unheard
of that an Indian device gets a ‘breakthrough’ status assigned to it by
the US. UAE, Malaysia & other countries
“The devices will all be made in India given that there are hardly any imported components. And
our partner in the US will take the device to there for the benefit of
the American people. Cytotron is already an approved medical device and
is in use in countries like the UAE, Mexico, Malaysia, and even in Hong
Kong, among others,” Kumar told TOI.
A communique from CDHR said that Cytotron is intended to be used to cause degeneration of uncontrolled growth of tissues.
“It is indicated for treating protein-linked, abnormally regenerating
disorders such as neoplastic disease, and allowing extended progression
free survival, with pain relief, palliation, improved quality and
dignity of life. It is indicated for the treatment of solid tumors of
breast, liver and pancreas – We are pleased to inform you that your
device and proposed indication for use meet the criteria and have been
granted designation as a Breakthrough Device,” CDHR said in a letter to
Shreis Scalene Sciences, the firm that has taken the device to the US.
How it works
Generically known as rotational field quantum magnetic
resonance, Cytotron uses Fast Radio Bursts (FRB)—a high energy and
powerful short radio bursts—in which both electric and magnetic
components of the electromagnetic signals are “circularly” polarized.
FRBs are produced when a radio signal is travelling through a powerful instantaneous magnetic field on its path to the target.
“FRBs can be used to communicate with the cellular command and control, to up or down regulate a specific protein or gene. In
cancer cells, Cytotron does two things:First, it alters the protein
pathways of a pro-apoptosis protein called p53 via p21 inducing
programmed cell death in the cancer cells, and secondly, exposure to
Cytotron stops metastasis by inhibiting the Epithelial Mesenchymal
Transition cells, responsible for spread of cancer; 90% cancer patients
die due to metastasis,” the statement reads.
Source: Dharmakshethra
Image Source: Science Mag