Infrasound a new weapon in cancer therapy?
J M Vahl1, A von Witzleben1, R Reiter2
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Ulm University Medical Center, 89075 Ulm, Germany.
Background:
Researchers take different positions when describing the effects of infrasound on the human body. Although several studies investigated the likely harmful effects of infrasound exposure from wind turbines a significant connection has not been found yet. There is evidence that infrasound interacts with cell metabolism and may disrupt cell membrane integrity.
Objectives:
The suggested impairment of the cells' ultrastructure by infrasound leads to the question of whether infrasound can be therapeutically used, for instance in cancer therapy. This review provides the current state of the literature.
Method:
Current literature on infrasound in cancer therapy including all studies with the search terms 'cancer' and 'infrasound' were identified and reviewed until the year 2020.
Results:
The present state of research reveals promising effects of targeted infrasound in cancer therapy. Infrasound directly affects the tumor cells' ultrastructure and seems to sensitize several types of cancer to chemotherapy, presumably due to membrane permeabilization. The application of infrasound on tumor cells without other therapeutic agents demonstrates different effects that probably depend on the type of cells, the applied frequency and sound pressure level as well as the time of exposure.
Conclusions:
The mechanism of infrasound on cancer cells is not completely understood yet, hence, further studies have to be conducted to clarify the ultrastructural and metabolic changes inside the tumor cells. The development of suitable infrasound generators for the application in a clinical setting would be an important course of action.
