AUTHOR=Falone Stefano , Santini Silvano , Cordone Valeria , Di Emidio Giovanna , Tatone Carla , Cacchio Marisa , Amicarelli Fernanda TITLE=Extremely Low-Frequency Magnetic Fields and Redox-Responsive Pathways Linked to Cancer Drug Resistance: Insights from Co-Exposure-Based In Vitro Studies JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health VOLUME=6 YEAR=2018 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00033 DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2018.00033 ISSN=2296-2565 ABSTRACT=

Electrical devices currently used in clinical practice and common household equipments generate extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) that were classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as “possible carcinogenic.” Assuming that ELF-MF plays a role in the carcinogenic process without inducing direct genomic alterations, ELF-MF may be involved in the promotion or progression of cancers. In particular, ELF-MF-induced responses are suspected to activate redox-responsive intracellular signaling or detoxification scavenging systems. In fact, improved protection against oxidative stress and redox-active xenobiotics is thought to provide critical proliferative and survival advantage in tumors. On this basis, an ever-growing research activity worldwide is attempting to establish whether tumor cells may develop multidrug resistance through the activation of essential cytoprotective networks in the presence of ELF fields, and how this might trigger relevant changes in tumor phenotype. This review builds a framework around how the activity of redox-responsive mediators may be controlled by co-exposure to ELF-MF and reactive oxygen species-generating agents in tumor and cancer cells, in order to clarify whether and how such potential molecular targets could help to minimize or neutralize the functional interaction between ELF-MF and malignancies.