TECHNICAL NOTES Diagnosis of Rectal Cancer by Electromagnetic Interactions: Preliminary Results Alberto Vannelli, M.D. & Ermanno Leo, M.D. & Luigi Battaglia, M.D. Elia Poiasina, M.D. Division of General Surgery B, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy OBJECTIVES: Although colonoscopy is effective in screening for colorectal cancer, its high cost and low compliance rates have encouraged a search for different methods. Our study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of rectal cancer detection using a nonlinear tuneable oscillator (TRIMprobi), a recently developed device for detecting differences in electromagnetic properties of cancerous and normal tissues. METHODS: We tested 228 patients (115 male and 113 female) between March and September 2006: 114 patients with rectal cancer diagnosed on colonoscopy and 114 patients with negative colonoscopy results. The TRIMprobi probe was moved over the surface of the pelvic area from the back and the front, with the patient standing, normally dressed, between the operator and the system receiver. The signal variation of three spectral lines, for 465-MHz, 930-MHz, and 1395-MHz frequencies was recorded for each of six probe positions. RESULTS: Analysis of resonance values showed that only the 465-MHz frequency differentiated patients with rectal cancer from those without cancer at all six probe positions (P G 0.001). With a cutoff value of 50 arbitrary units, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.94 (specificity, 85 percent; sensitivity, 94 percent). CONCLUSIONS: The TRIMprobi test discriminates well between patients with normal rectal tissue and those with malignant lesions. These preliminary results confirm that electromagnetic detection of rectal cancer is possible and suggest this method of extracorporeal scanning may be useful as a first-level screening tool. KEY WORDS: Cancer screening; Nonlinear tuneable oscillator; Rectal cancer; TRIMprob; Tissue Resonance InterferoMeter Probe. W ith its high incidence and mortality, colorectal cancer constitutes a public health burden in most industrialized countries, increasing the importance of proper screening and early diagnosis. 1 During 1998Y2002, colorectal cancer was the fourth most frequently diagnosed cancer among males (11.3 percent of all cancers) and the third among females (11.5 percent). Among cancer deaths, it was the second most relevant among both males (10.4 percent of all cancer deaths) and females (12.4 percent). Data from the Italian Network of Cancer Registries 2 show an average of 88.8 new colorectal cancer diagnoses in Italy per year per 100,000 males and 70.3 per 100,000 females. It was estimated that 20,457 new colorectal cancer diagnoses are made in Italy every year among males and 17,276 among females. There were 10,526 deaths because of colorectal cancer among males and 9,529 among females. Because of this high prevalence, as well as a long asymptomatic phase and treatability of precancerous lesions, colorectal cancer is an ideal target for screening. Several screening tests are available, but none is ideal. Previous studies have investigated the cost-effectiveness of colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, and fecal occult blood testing as screening alternatives. 3 Flexible sigmoid- oscopy was less cost-effective than fecal occult blood testing and colonoscopy. Fecal occult blood testing is a simple, low-cost screening method, but colonoscopy was more effective in saving lives. However, high costs and low compliance rates for colonoscopy have encouraged a search for different methods. It has been proposed that cancer exposed to a low level of electromagnetic incident waves may behave differently than healthy tissue. 4 The phenomenon of ‘‘nonlinear resonance interaction,’’ which is produced when the oscillations of an electromagnetic probe are coupled with those from biological tissue, 5 can be used to test for differences between healthy and cancerous tissues. 162 DISEASES OF THE COLON &RECTUM VOLUME 52: 1 (2009) Address of correspondence: Alberto Vannelli, M.D., Division of General Surgery B, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Via Venezian 1, 20133 Milan, Italy. E-mail: a.vannelli@tiscalinet.it Dis Colon Rectum 2009; 52: 162Y166 DOI: 10.1007/DCR.0b013e31819722f6 BThe ASCRS 2009 Copyright @ The ASCRS 2009. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.