Cancer is a serious threat to human health. In fact, despite decades of scientific efforts and many enlightening discoveries about mechanisms and intervention pathways, clinical results are not yet completely satisfactory and cancer remains one of main causes of death in both developed and developing countries. At present, the primary options for advanced cancer treatments, namely chemotherapy and radiotherapy, always have some limitations such as severe side effects and drug resistance. It is necessary to improve multidisciplinary efforts develop to address these disadvantages.
With this objective, a large number of studies have been published showing that magnetic fields (MFs) could inhibit tumor cells growth and proliferation, induce cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, autophagy and differentiation, regulate the immune system and suppress angiogenesis and metastasis via various signaling pathways. In addition, MFs are effective in combination therapies: MFs not only promote the absorption of chemotherapy drugs but also enhance the inhibitory effects by regulating apoptosis and cell cycle related proteins. The majority of the reported results were accompanied by no toxicity in vitro and in vivo.
The available data suggest that MFs can significantly inhibit tumor growth, and the inhibitory effect has a positive correlation with time and intensity. Meanwhile, the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is an inevitable phenomenon considered to be the key to the inhibitory effect of the MFs. However, this area of research needs more efforts to gain better consensus. It is in fact characterized by two main weaknesses being the majority of studies confined to in vitro with the use of different experimental variables that do not allow good correlation between in vitro and the fewer available in vivo studies.
From a biophysical stand point the intriguing aspect is that the use of quantum physics allows the evaluation of appropriate MFs to selectivity influence the activity of electrons mainly the electron spin state. In fact The activity of electrons must obey to quantum physics, which assigns to electron spin a key role in biochemistry since all molecular processes are spin selective. The spin state plays a pivotal role in all the redox reactions that are at the core of our metabolic machinery. Influencing the spin we can then selectively influence the ROS chemistry potentially having a selective effect on cancer biology without affecting normal cell biology.
This is the fascinating aspect of using MFs fields on experimental oncology. This is the reason why is strongly justified to call for additional multidisciplinary research in this area that may have a potentiality to help improving individual and precision therapies.
Keywords:
Cancer, Magnetic Fields, Reactive Oxygen Species, Electron Spin, Individual and Precision Therapies
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
Cancer is a serious threat to human health. In fact, despite decades of scientific efforts and many enlightening discoveries about mechanisms and intervention pathways, clinical results are not yet completely satisfactory and cancer remains one of main causes of death in both developed and developing countries. At present, the primary options for advanced cancer treatments, namely chemotherapy and radiotherapy, always have some limitations such as severe side effects and drug resistance. It is necessary to improve multidisciplinary efforts develop to address these disadvantages.
With this objective, a large number of studies have been published showing that magnetic fields (MFs) could inhibit tumor cells growth and proliferation, induce cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, autophagy and differentiation, regulate the immune system and suppress angiogenesis and metastasis via various signaling pathways. In addition, MFs are effective in combination therapies: MFs not only promote the absorption of chemotherapy drugs but also enhance the inhibitory effects by regulating apoptosis and cell cycle related proteins. The majority of the reported results were accompanied by no toxicity in vitro and in vivo.
The available data suggest that MFs can significantly inhibit tumor growth, and the inhibitory effect has a positive correlation with time and intensity. Meanwhile, the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is an inevitable phenomenon considered to be the key to the inhibitory effect of the MFs. However, this area of research needs more efforts to gain better consensus. It is in fact characterized by two main weaknesses being the majority of studies confined to in vitro with the use of different experimental variables that do not allow good correlation between in vitro and the fewer available in vivo studies.
From a biophysical stand point the intriguing aspect is that the use of quantum physics allows the evaluation of appropriate MFs to selectivity influence the activity of electrons mainly the electron spin state. In fact The activity of electrons must obey to quantum physics, which assigns to electron spin a key role in biochemistry since all molecular processes are spin selective. The spin state plays a pivotal role in all the redox reactions that are at the core of our metabolic machinery. Influencing the spin we can then selectively influence the ROS chemistry potentially having a selective effect on cancer biology without affecting normal cell biology.
This is the fascinating aspect of using MFs fields on experimental oncology. This is the reason why is strongly justified to call for additional multidisciplinary research in this area that may have a potentiality to help improving individual and precision therapies.
Keywords:
Cancer, Magnetic Fields, Reactive Oxygen Species, Electron Spin, Individual and Precision Therapies
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.