Combination Effects of the Repetitive Pulsed Magnetic Stimulation and the Anticancer Agent Imatinib on Human Leukemia Cell Line TCC-S

Repetitive pulsed magnetic stimulation (RPMS) is the use of pulsed magnetic fields to induce electric fields in the tissues by electromagnetic induction without the need for surgery or external electrodes. In the present study, the combination effect of RPMS and an anticancer agent was examined on human chronic myelogenous leukemia-derived cell line TCC-S using molecular target drug (selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor) imatinib mesylate (imatinib). The stimulus conditions were determined as follows: 0.1, 0.25, and 0.5 T, 25 pulses/s, 1000, 3000, and 6000 pulses/day. TCC-S cells were cultured with 100 nM imatinib and exposed to RPMS at 1 h, 12 h, 24 h, 36 h, 48 h, and 56 h after drug treatment. The significant combination effects of RPMS and imatinib occurred by the stimulus intensity and pulse dose depended manner. To clarify the effects of RPMS on human normal lymphocytes, PBMCs were also exposed to RPMS with or without imatinib. RPMS had no effect on the viability of PBMCs. These results indicate that RPMS possibly improve the effectiveness of anticancer agents