Radiation therapy is effective against cancer cells of the liver

A new targeted therapy using non-thermal radio waves has been shown to block the growth of cancerous liver cells anywhere in the body without damaging healthy cells, according to a study by Wake scientists Forest School of Medicine, owned by Wake Forest Baptist Health. .

The results of the study are published in the online edition of the newspaper of May 31st. EBioMedicine, a Lancet publication.

Using animal models, the research team led by Boris Pasche, MD, Ph.D., Chair of Cancer Biology and Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest Baptist, provided radiofrequency levels to mice injected with human cancer cells. replicate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer.

The radio frequencies were the same as those provided to HCC patients in Europe, where the device was approved for use in people.

"Our study showed that the radio frequency delivered was at low and safe levels," Pasche said. "It was actually inferior to those generated by holding a cell phone close to the ear."

The research team used a device, invented by Pasche and Alexandre Barbault, of TheraBionic GmbH of Ettlingen (Germany) providing cancer-specific amplitude modulated radio frequency electromagnetic fields (AM RF EMF) programmed specifically for HCC. AM RF EMF activated a calcium channel on the surface of HCC tumor cells, but not on non-cancer cells, Pasche said.

"We discovered that a specific calcium channel, Cav3.2, acted as an antenna for the radio signals we sent, which allowed calcium to enter the cell membrane of the HCC and enter the cell. , triggering a halt in the growth of the HCC, "Pasche said.

"Our team discovered that it was the calcium influx that stopped the growth of HCC cells and reduced or even eliminated the tumors.This effect was the same, even though the cancer was metastasized in other parts of the body. "

The next step of the team will be to identify the exact signaling cascade in the tumor cell that leads to anticancer effects, Pasche said.

A separate study conducted by Wake Forest Baptist researchers and using the same technology as breast cancer cells was also published in the May 31 edition of the EBioMedicine.

The device, licensed to TheraBionic Inc., formerly TheraBionic LLC, and TheraBionic GmbH, has been approved by the European Notified Body, the equivalent of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is currently under review by the FDA. Pasche and Barbault hold shares in TheraBionic Inc. and TheraBionic GmbH.

The treatment, whose use is approved by patients in Europe, consists of a portable device the size of a VHS tape cassette that emits radio frequencies via a spoon-shaped element placed on the tongue of the patient. The treatment is administered to the patient three times a day for one hour. The frequencies used are specific to the patient's cancer type identified by tumor biopsies or blood tests, Pasche said.

Pasche and Barbault discovered radio frequencies for 15 different types of cancer, as reported in a study published in 2009 in Journal of Experimental and Clinical Research on Cancer.

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