Abstract 5382: Biofield therapy suppressed the growth of human pancreatic cancer cells by modulation of cell cycle and cell voltage potentials
Authors: Yang Peiying , Chakraborty Sharmistha , Nguyen Phuong , Cui Meng , Cusimano Andrew , Wei Daoyan , Prinsloo Sarah , Cohen Lorenzo 
Published: June 2022

Biofield therapies have gained popularity and are being explored as possible treatments for cancer. In some cases, devices have been developed that mimic the electromagnetic fields (EMF) that are emitted from people delivering biofield therapies. However, it is not clear if EMFs are the mechanism of action. We previously reported that biofield therapy significantly inhibited the growth of lung cancer cells in vitro and their relevant animal model mediated through inflammatory and immune pathways. We expanded this research to examine the effects of human biofield therapy on the growth of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells and explored relevant mechanisms. Cell viability of human pancreatic cancer Panc-1 and mouse pancreatic cancer Panc02 cells was measured by PrestoBlue assay. Cell cycle was measured by PI staining and cell voltage potentials were assessed using DiBAC4 staining. It is well-established that cancer cells have distinct bioelectrical properties and most have depolarized cell voltage potentials that support cell proliferation. Expression of cell signaling proteins was determined by Western blot. We found that Panc-1 and Panc02 cells exposed to biofield treatment for 15 and 30 mins, respectively, resulted in significantly lower viability compared to that of sham control. These experiments were replicated 12 times for Panc-1 cells and 6 times for Panc02 cells. We further observed that the experimental exposure significantly increased G1 phase population of Panc-1 cells (sham control=43.7% (0.8) vs treatment=55.0% (0.8%), p&lt;0.001). In contrast, Panc02 cells exposed to biofield therapy had significantly higher population of G2/M cells than that of sham control group (sham control=22.5% (0.5) vs treatment=27.7% (1.1), p&lt;0.001). We found that biofield therapy resulted in a 36.7% reduction in cell voltage potentials as measured by the intensity of DiBAC4 staining in Panc-1 cells compared to that of sham controls (p&lt;0.01). Finally, the treatment down-regulated pAkt expression and the pAkt/Akt ratio by 45.3% and 43.8%, respectively, in Panc-1 cells in comparison with the sham control group. The effect of biofield therapy on cell signaling proteins measured by Reverse Phase Proteomic Array in Panc-1 cells and the growth of human Panc-1 mouse orthotopic model is ongoing and the results will be presented at the meeting. Together, these findings suggest that exposure to biofield therapy results in reduced growth of pancreatic cancer cells which might be in part mediated through modification of the cell cycle - differentially for different cell types, reductions in cell voltage potentials suggesting hyperpolarization of cells, and down regulation of PI3K/Akt pathways.

Citation Format: Peiying Yang, Sharmistha Chakraborty, Phuong Nguyen, Meng Cui, Andrew Cusimano, Daoyan Wei, Sarah Prinsloo, Lorenzo Cohen. Biofield therapy suppressed the growth of human pancreatic cancer cells by modulation of cell cycle and cell voltage potentials [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 5382.