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support this approach either. In my group's experiments with human
fibrosarcoma cells in vitro, negative and positive currents both speeded up
growth by over 300 percent. On the other hand, as mentioned in Chap-
ter 8, we found that we could suspend mitosis in the fibrosarcoma cells
with silver ions injected by minute levels of positive current. During one
day of exposure, the cells appeared to dedifferentiate completely, and
they stopped dividing for a month without additional treatment, even
though we changed the nutrient medium regularly. Obviously, this en-
tire subject needs to be investigated more thoroughly.
Some researchers believe pulsed electromagnetic fields may be of some
benefit in treating cancer. Art Pilla, working with Larry Norton and
Laurie Tansman of New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine, as well
as William Riegelson of the Medical College of Virginia, claims to have
found a pulse sequence that significantly increases the survival time of
mice with cancer. So far, these experimenters say they've increased the
effectiveness of chemotherapy in lab animals with PEMF, but haven't
found a pulse pattern that consistently regresses tumors in vivo, although
Pilla and Steve Smith have been able to transform malignant lymphoma
(lymph node cancer) cells into benign fibroblasts in culture.
The claim that PEMF may retard
cancer in animals is seriously
flawed, however. In these experiments the entire animal was exposed to
the field, not just the part with the cancer. The pulsing field (like al-
most any time-varying magnetic field) induces a stress response in the
animal (see Chapter 15). For a short while this increases the activity of
the immune system, which slows the growth of the tumor. However,
the field's effect on the tumor itself is to speed it up, and, in the long
run, added stress is the last thing an animal with cancer needs. These
experiments cannot be used to indicate the safety or benefit of PEMF in
regard to cancer. Since to heal bones the fields are directed only at small
regions, PEMF as used on humans does not produce stress, increased
immune system response, or any concomitant antitumor activity.
Certain leads, such as the electrically injected silver, remain promis-
ing. In the 1950s and 1960s, Dr. Kenneth MacLean published some
interesting work on the use of magnetic fields versus tumors in mice. He
believed he'd healed several cases of cancer with steady-state magnetic
fields, and certain unorthodox healers in America and India who use
permanent magnets have made similar claims. The difference in effect
between steady-state and time-varying fields (see Chapters 14 and 15)
leads me to theorize that a steady-state magnetic field, if strong enough,
may indeed halt mitosis in malignant cells.
Due to the prevailing outlook in cancer research,
the key work re-