![\"\"](\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Bob-Camley.jpeg\")
The research Camley will pursue is related to localized hyperthermia treatments. Cancer tumors begin to die at about 45 degrees Celsius, Camley explained \u2014 significantly hotter than the human body, which rests at about 37 degrees Celsius. Current hyperthermia treatments heat human body tissue to temperatures that cause cancer tumors to die. But issues arise when the tissue and bone around the tumor heat up too much: treating cancer tumors with heat near the skull, for instance, can cause the brain to overheat as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Camley\u2019s Fulbright research will study how to localize the treatment more narrowly than existing methods by injecting magnetic particles into the tumors themselves, then heating them with low-frequency oscillating magnetic fields. The fields, like radio waves, can heat the magnetic particles, but pass harmlessly through the rest of the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMost cancer treatments today are either chemotherapy or conducted with a scalpel. Chemotherapy is brutal because it kills the human body \u2014 it just kills cancer tumors sooner,\u201d Camley explained. \u201cThe idea we\u2019re pursuing in our research is to create directed mechanisms for killing only what we want to, which is the cancer tumor, rather than the rest of the body.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The concept sounds simple in theory, though Camley stresses that there are difficulties in the line of research. One of the main challenges is to characterize the magnetic nanoparticles correctly, in order to create a uniform set that will respond evenly to the same frequency. That\u2019s why Camley\u2019s research will focus on techniques to analyze the nanoparticles more precisely \u2014 and it\u2019s where his long-time collaborator, Karen Livesey, comes in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Livesey, a former Professor of Physics at UCCS who now teaches in the School of Information and Physical Sciences at the University of Newcastle, specializes in magnetic nanomaterials. She and Camley, both theorists who focus on biomedicine, will spend the duration of the project working to solve the scientific (and practical) questions the research poses: from characterizing the nanoparticles, to studying how to rid the body of them after the treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many researchers are studying how to use temperature in cancer treatments, Camley noted \u2014 in fact, Medicare has billing and coding information for freezing cancer tumors, though none exist for heating them. He is excited about this line of research because it\u2019s focused on less invasive techniques, ones that damage cancer tumors rather than tissue, and cause fewer side effects than full-body treatments like chemotherapy. He is also excited because the research he and Livesey are pursuing could help to push related cancer treatment methods forward, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to make tools available so that the new treatments that are starting to become more popular can improve \u2014 so there are better ways to measure temperature, better sets of particles to heat tumors, and so on,\u201d Camley said. In fact, he\u2019s already pursuing related biomedical research, like new methods to measure temperature for MRI-guided surgeries, with UCCS collaborators Zbigniew Celinski, Distinguished Professor of Physics, and Janusz Hankiewicz, Senior Research Associate in the UCCS BioFrontiers Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI see the future as being localized treatments of cancer that don\u2019t impact the entire body, that only impact a small region where the tumor is, and might not even require cutting into the body to do it,\u201d Camley said. \u201cYou could say we\u2019re not even on the cutting edge of this research. We\u2019re way ahead of the cutting edge, in the sense that we\u2019re trying things that are not ready for prime time yet. But five years from now, it could be an entirely different story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers more than 400 different opportunities to teach, research and conduct professional projects in over 135 countries. Opportunities are available for higher education faculty and administrators as well as for professionals outside of academia, artists, journalists, scientists, and independent scholars. UCCS faculty, staff and students interested in learning more about Fulbright awards should contact Mandy Hansen in the Office of International Affairs<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) offers 55 bachelor\u2019s, 24 master\u2019s and eight doctoral degree programs and enrolls about 12,000 students annually. Located in the heart of Colorado Springs, UCCS has a strong student focus and access mission, with a goal of transforming lives for the better. Learn more about UCCS<\/strong><\/a> at uccs.edu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"About the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n