halifax doctor sees game-changing results for cancer treatment with targeted hyperthermia therapy
4 minute read
dr. carman giacomantonio poses for a photo at the halifax infirmary on friday, nov. 7, 2025.
ryan taplin
/
the chronicle herald
dr. carman giacomantonio calls the first-in-human results from sona nanotech’s new therapy for patients with immunotherapy-resistant metastatic melanoma a game changer.
targeted hyperthermia therapy, a canadian innovation, uses gold nanorods and infrared light to deliver therapeutic heat that stimulates the immune system and destroys resistant tumours.
in the study, eight of 10 advanced-stage patients who failed to respond to standard immunotherapy treatment experienced measurable tumour responses within two weeks of treatment. six of those eight showed complete tumour elimination.
“these tremendous results validate our earlier published preclinical findings and provide compelling clinical evidence of the efficacy and tolerability of sona’s novel targeted hyperthermia therapy in human cancer,” said giacomantonio, the chief medical officer for halifax-based sona nanotech.
“although this study was not powered to determine response rates, eight out of 10 patients experienced responses in a treated tumour, with six out of those eight patients’ biopsied tumours showing a complete response, and it commands one’s attention. equally impressive is the observation that these responses were confirmed after only two weeks from the initial treatment. this, to my knowledge, is unprecedented.”
advertisement
what is targeted hyperthermia therapy?
targeted hyperthermia therapy applies heat to the core of the tumour by using photo-thermal conversion of near-infrared light, said giacomantonio.
“it’s very controlled, very precise, rather than heating the whole body. it’s not harmful to the skin. if you have these gold nanoparticles, nanorods that sona makes, what they do is convert that energy into heat. it’s very precise and i can control the heat and, in doing so, can control the stress where i want it to be.”
giacomantonio said the treatment is “way outside the box” and the results show it could offer cancer patients a less damaging solution for their bodies.
“people are used to cutting things out or burning them, or in the case of melanoma, systemic immune therapy. the world is celebrating (systemic immune therapy), but the real numbers are literally 30 per cent of people respond and 20 per cent of the people have permanent and severe autoimmune toxicity from it.”
giacomantonio said the study allowed them to control systemic stress by focusing on the tumour and letting the body do what it does best.
“i can represent the cancer to the immune system in a novel way and that novel way is to stress it to start dying. our immune system takes anything that dies and eats it. eating it up presents it to the immune system as a kind of check and balance. and that is what we have proven happens.”
advertisement
next trial in nova scotia
the initial study was done in santiago, chile, said giacomantonio, because doing research on a small scale there was more financially manageable for sano nanotech.
“to do it in canada, we were looking at about a million and a half dollars treating 10 patients in a study versus $200,000 in chile. the efficacy had to be approved here to have it done there. it’s not like we were taking advantage of a vulnerable population.”
giacomantonio, who is also a practising surgical oncologist at the qeii health sciences centre and a professor of surgery at dalhousie university, said the next study has been approved to be done in nova scotia. he said they will repeat the trial in santiago but with more emphasis on understanding the differences in responses.
“when that many people respond, we know we won’t have to test a large number of people to see a response,” he said. “what we need to do now is to look at the biology and understand why two people didn’t respond and two more people only partially responded. that is where the real information is.”
reshape treatment
giacomantonio said the therapy can reshape cancer treatment by eliminating surgical impact on the body and generating a better immune response.
advertisement
“in my surgical world, if a person comes to me with a melanoma that’s advanced, i need to remove the melanoma and i need to take a margin of tissue,” said. “often, i am taking five and six centimetres out of a person’s body. this would eliminate the surgical impact of these advanced cancers.
“the second thing, i would generate, arguably and theoretically, a better immune response given what we have seen in these studies because we are generating the best possible response to the cancer when it’s right there in the body.”
giacomantonio said the study is showing skin cancer to the immune system in an optimal way that could be applied to other cancers.
“this would change so much in skin cancer,” he said. “i’m starting with skin cancer because it is the most access, but this is a biological principle that applies to all cancers.
“we will move this into gastrointestinal, rectal and esophageal cancers and so on and so forth, as we improve the access to the technology in the application.
“it’s a game-changer for me as a surgeon.”
share story
