Effects of microwave exposure and Gemcitabine treatment on apoptotic activity in Burkitt's lymphoma (Raji) cells.
Canseven AG, Esmekaya MA, Kayhan H, Tuysuz MZ, Seyhan N. · 2014
View Original AbstractCell phone-level microwave radiation significantly increased cancer cell death and interacted with chemotherapy drugs, showing cellular effects at common exposure levels.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed Burkitt's lymphoma cells (a type of cancer cell) to 1.8 GHz microwave radiation at levels similar to cell phones for 24 hours. The radiation significantly increased cell death and reduced cell survival, and when combined with a cancer drug called Gemcitabine, the effects were even stronger. This suggests that microwave radiation can affect cancer cells in ways that might interact with cancer treatments.
Why This Matters
This study adds important evidence to our understanding of how radiofrequency radiation affects cellular health, particularly cancer cells. The researchers used a SAR level of 0.35 W/kg, which is well within the range of typical cell phone exposures (the FCC limit is 1.6 W/kg). What makes this research particularly significant is that it demonstrates microwave radiation can alter fundamental cellular processes like programmed cell death, and these effects can interact synergistically with pharmaceutical treatments. The reality is that while this was conducted on cancer cells in a laboratory setting, it reveals that RF radiation at everyday exposure levels can influence critical cellular functions. The science demonstrates that our cells respond to these exposures in measurable ways, which raises important questions about long-term health implications for the billions of people using wireless devices daily.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.35 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 1.8 GHz
- Exposure Duration
- 24 hours
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
We investigated the effects of 1.8 MHz Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)-modulated microwave (MW) radiation on apoptotic level and cell viability of Burkitt's lymphoma (Raji) cells with or without Gemcitabine, which exhibits cell phase specificity, primarily killing cells undergoing DNA synthesis (S-phase).
Raji cells were exposed to 1.8 GHz GSM-modulated MW radiation at a specific absorption rate (SAR) of...
The apoptotic activity of MW exposed Raji cells was increased significantly. In addition, cell viabi...
These results demonstrated that MW radiation exposure and Gemcitabine treatment have a synergistic effect on apoptotic activity of Raji cells.
Show BibTeX
@article{ag_2014_effects_of_microwave_exposure_889,
author = {Canseven AG and Esmekaya MA and Kayhan H and Tuysuz MZ and Seyhan N.},
title = {Effects of microwave exposure and Gemcitabine treatment on apoptotic activity in Burkitt's lymphoma (Raji) cells.},
year = {2014},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24901461/},
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