title: Low intensity and frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields selectively impair breast cancer cell viability.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A common drawback of many anticancer therapies is non-specificity in action of killing. We investigated the potential of ultra-low intensity and frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) to kill breast cancer cells. Our criteria to accept this technology as a potentially valid therapeutic approach were: 1) cytotoxicity to breast cancer cells and; 2) that the designed fields proved innocuous to healthy cell classes that would be exposed to the PEMFs during clinical treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  MCF7 breast cancer cells and their normal counterparts, MCF10 cells, were exposed to PEMFs and cytotoxic indices measured in order to design PEMF paradigms that best kill breast cancer cells. The PEMF parameters tested were: 1) frequencies ranging from 20 to 50 Hz; 2) intensities ranging from 2 mT to 5 mT and; 3) exposure durations ranging from 30 to 90 minutes per day for up to three days to determine the optimum parameters for selective cancer cell killing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed a discrete window of vulnerability of MCF7 cells to PEMFs of 20 Hz frequency, 3 mT magnitude and exposure duration of 60 minutes per day. The cell damage accrued in response to PEMFs increased with time and gained significance after three days of consecutive daily exposure. By contrast, the PEMFs parameters determined to be most cytotoxic to breast cancer MCF-7 cells were not damaging to normal MCF-10 cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on our data it appears that PEMF-based anticancer strategies may represent a new therapeutic approach to treat breast cancer without affecting normal tissues in a manner that is non-invasive and can be potentially combined with existing anti-cancer treatments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, University of Siena, Siena, Italy ; Institute of Biomechanics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Crocetti
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beyer
authors.forename: Grit
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schade
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Egli
authors.forename: Jürg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fröhlich
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Franco-Obregón
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000528:radiation effects; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000528:radiation effects; D053960:DNA Breaks / Q000528:radiation effects; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D055909:Magnetic Field Therapy; D013997:Time Factors
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