Magnetism and biology join forces against cancer 🧲

Magnetism offers extremely promising perspectives in biology, particularly in mechanobiology and for various biomedical applications including cancer.


In vitro studies on three-dimensional cell assemblies have shown that the death of different types of cancer cells (pancreatic, brain, kidney cancers, melanomas) can be triggered by magnetic stimulation of the cells. The effect is mechanically induced by applying mechanical stress to the cells through magnetic particles dispersed among them.

Researchers initially conducted studies on glioma cells (brain cancer) cultured in 2D at the bottom of culture dishes. However, these results vary significantly depending on the cellular microenvironment, which differs between 2D cultures and actual biological tissues.

Now, a new milestone has been reached by reproducing these effects on tumoroids—3D assemblies of cancer cells that are much closer to biological tissues. To maximize efficiency, it is crucial to readjust the magnetic field conditions to lower frequencies (2 to 5Hz instead of 20Hz) to adapt to the different texture of 3D environments.

A strong impact of magneto-mechanical stimulation on the cells' cytoskeleton has been demonstrated, leading to cell death.


This new study paves the way for in vivo testing of innovative cancer treatments using magneto-mechanical cell stimulation. This approach could be used alone or in synergy with chemotherapy.