Combined Effect of 60 Hz Magnetic Fields and Anticancer Drugs on Human Hepatoma HepG2 Cells

Abstract

Our previous data using bacterial cells Escherichia coli have showed that 60 Hz, 50 mT magnetic fields enhance the efficacy of antibiotics. By using magnetic fields in clinical cancer chemotherapy, it is presumed to be able to enhance an anticancer drug efficacy on the target region, reduce dosage, and suppress side effects. However, since the prokaryotic bacterial cells, i.e., E.coli, differ from human cells, which are eukaryotes and multicellular organisms in many ways, it was not clear whether the magnetic fields affect an efficacy of anticancer drug against human cancer cells. In this study, we designed and produced magnetic field exposure device for human cancer cells in culture and investigated whether 60 Hz, 50 mT magnetic fields affect the efficacy of anticancer drugs against human hepatoma HepG2 cells. The results of experiments with an anticancer drug cisplatin indicated that the quantity of viable HepG2 cells become decreased significantly by the combination of cisplatin and magnetic fields, as compared to that by cisplatin alone. This suggested that 60 Hz, 50 mT magnetic fields increase the cytocidal activity of cisplatin to human hepatoma cells. The efficiency of the anticancer drugs mitomycin C and doxorubicin against HepG2 cells was also increased significantly by exposure to magnetic fields, although the time associated with the greatest enhancement of the drug's efficacy achieved by magnetic fields differed among drugs. These results suggest that 60 Hz, 50 mT magnetic fields strengthen the effect of anticancer drugs on human cancer HepG2 cells.