Maryam Moori - Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad Univer- sity, Tehran, Iran
Dariush Norouzian - Pilot Nanobiotechnology Department, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
Parichehr Yaghmaei - Recombinant Proteins Department, Breast Cancer Research Center, Motamed Cancer Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
Leila Farahmand - ۳Recombinant Proteins Department, Breast Cancer Research Center, Motamed Cancer Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran

Breast cancer is the most common metastatic malignancy and the second leading cause of death in women. Recently, extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) seem to modulate the rate of proliferation and enhance apoptosis and are considered as an emerging approach to cancer therapy. Despite recent success in the electromagnetic fields, the results are still neither definitive nor even contradictory.  Methods: In this study, induction of apoptosis was considered as one of the possible mechanisms of ELF-EMFs on cancer inhibition. Breast cancer cell lines were exposed to a ۱ Hz, ۱۰۰mT ELF-EMF (۲h/day) for five days. the apoptosis rare of both the exposure and sham exposure groups was determined by flow cytometry. The expression levels of Bax and Bcl-۲ were evaluated by real-time PCR. Results: The mRNA expression levels of Bax were increased; while the expression of Bcl-۲ showed a decrease in MDA-MB۲۳۱ cells exposed to ۱Hz EMF compared with sham exposure. Moreover, the ratio of Bax/Bcl۲ was significantly increased in comparison to the sham exposure. The increased Bax/Bcl-۲ ratio induces cell apoptosis. Conclusions: It is suggested that ELF-EMF is a new adjuvant therapeutical method that may contribute to anti-cancer and cancer therapy research.

Breast Cancer, Apoptosis, Electromagnetic Fields, Bax/Bcl-۲