Abstract
Purpose: :
Previous research has shown that high power Radio Frequency (RF) radiation can be used as an efficacious adjunct treatment in numerous cancers due to the thermal effect. Additionally, some reports have evaluated the effects of chronic exposure to low power RF sources such as cellular phones on living cancer cells yielding conflicting results. To date, no studies have investigated the effects of low power RF exposure on uveal melanoma (UM) cell lines. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of low power, non-thermal RF radiation on UM cell lines.
Methods: :
The proliferation rate of the UM cell line 92.1 was evaluated before and after exposure to low power RF radiation. A fibroblast cell line was used as a non-malignant control in each of the experiments. The 92.1 and fibroblast cell lines were seeded in multiple 96-well plates at a density of 5000 cells per well. For each experimental condition, 42 wells with the 92.1 cell line and 6 wells with the fibroblast cell line were assayed. Cells were exposed to one of the following experimental conditions for 35 minutes: low range (1.0-1.6GHz), medium range (1.7-2.3GHz), or high range (2.4-3.0GHz) RF radiation at a power of 50mW. As controls, proliferation of non-exposed 92.1 and fibroblast cell lines were assessed.
Results: :
In the 92.1 cell line, a frequency-dependent decrease in proliferation was observed. Compared to controls, exposure to the low, medium and high ranges of radiation caused a 2%, 7% and 9% reduction in cell proliferation, respectively. For the fibroblast cell line, exposure to low, medium and high ranges of radiation caused a 53%, 20% and 7% increase in cell proliferation, respectively.
Conclusions: :
This study suggests that exposure to low power RF radiation is cytotoxic or cytostatic in UM cells in a dose-dependent fashion. In contrast, the same experimental conditions increased the proliferation of the assayed fibroblast cell line. Therefore, the use of low power RF may prove efficacious in treating UM while causing minimal deleterious effects on non-malignant cells. Future studies investigating the observed findings in numerous UM cell lines and across broader frequency ranges and exposure times are warranted..
Keywords: clinical laboratory testing • melanoma • proliferation