 J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2009; 28(1): 51.
Published online 2009 April 14. doi: 10.1186/1756-9966-28-51.
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PMCID: PMC2672058
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Copyright © 2009 Barbault et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
Amplitude-modulated electromagnetic fields for the treatment of cancer: Discovery of tumor-specific frequencies and assessment of a novel therapeutic approach
Alexandre Barbault,1,2 Frederico P Costa,3 Brad Bottger,4 Reginald F Munden,5 Fin Bomholt,6 Niels Kuster,7 and Boris Pasche1,8
1Cabinet Médical, Avenue de la Gare 6, Lausanne, Switzerland
2Rue de Verdun 20, Colmar, France
3Sirio-Libanes Hospital, Oncology Center, São Paulo, Brazil
4Radiology Associates, Danbury Hospital, Danbury, CT, USA
5Department of Radiology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham and UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, Birmingham, AL, USA
6SPEAG AG, Zurich, Switzerland
7IT’IS, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland
8Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham and UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, Birmingham, AL, USA
Corresponding author.
Alexandre Barbault: [email protected]; Frederico P Costa: [email protected]; Brad Bottger: [email protected]; Reginald F Munden: [email protected]; Fin Bomholt: [email protected]; Niels Kuster: [email protected]; Boris Pasche: [email protected]
Received January 8, 2009; Accepted April 14, 2009.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Purpose
Because in vitro studies suggest that low levels of electromagnetic fields may modify cancer cell growth, we hypothesized that systemic delivery of a combination of tumor-specific frequencies may have a therapeutic effect. We undertook this study to identify tumor-specific frequencies and test the feasibility of administering such frequencies to patients with advanced cancer.
Patients and methods
We examined patients with various types of cancer using a noninvasive biofeedback method to identify tumor-specific frequencies. We offered compassionate treatment to some patients with advanced cancer and limited therapeutic options.
Results
We examined a total of 163 patients with a diagnosis of cancer and identified a total of 1524 frequencies ranging from 0.1 Hz to 114 kHz. Most frequencies (57–92%) were specific for a single tumor type. Compassionate treatment with tumor-specific frequencies was offered to 28 patients. Three patients experienced grade 1 fatigue during or immediately after treatment. There were no NCI grade 2, 3 or 4 toxicities. Thirteen patients were evaluable for response. One patient with hormone-refractory breast cancer metastatic to the adrenal gland and bones had a complete response lasting 11 months. One patient with hormone-refractory breast cancer metastatic to liver and bones had a partial response lasting 13.5 months. Four patients had stable disease lasting for +34.1 months (thyroid cancer metastatic to lung), 5.1 months (non-small cell lung cancer), 4.1 months (pancreatic cancer metastatic to liver) and 4.0 months (leiomyosarcoma metastatic to liver).
Conclusion
Cancer-related frequencies appear to be tumor-specific and treatment with tumor-specific frequencies is feasible, well tolerated and may have biological efficacy in patients with advanced cancer.
Trial registration
clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT00805337