Author ORCID Identifier

0000-0002-4572-1181

Date of Graduation

8-2020

Document Type

Thesis (MS)

Program Affiliation

Cancer Biology

Degree Name

Masters of Science (MS)

Advisor/Committee Chair

David Grosshans

Committee Member

Stuart Corr

Committee Member

Cullen Tanguichi

Committee Member

Gabriel O. Sawakuchi

Committee Member

Pierre D. McCrea

Committee Member

Angel Marti

Abstract

Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) are an antineoplastic treatment delivered via application of alternating electric fields using insulated transducer arrays placed directly on the skin in the region surrounding the tumor. TTF’s is a non-invasive application of low-intensity (1-3 V/cm), intermediate-frequency (100-500 kHz) alternating electric fields. The predominant mechanism by which TTFields are thought to kill tumor cells is the disruption of mitosis through the depolymerization of microtubules and interruption of the spindle structure leading to mitotic catastrophe and the formation of non-viable daughter cells. Tumor Treating fields do not stimulate nerves and muscle because of their high frequency, and do not generate heat because of their low intensity. However, there is no study to support the mechanism of TTF’s. It is still under research. There is not much research done on the hyperthermia induced by tumor treating fields. It’s still not known whether heat also plays a role in inhibiting cancer growth and killing cancer cells. Our hypothesis is that the TTF’s at 150 kHz frequency induce hyperthermia in pancreatic cancer cells. Two specific aims are set to approach this hypothesis. First specific aim is to design and develop an engineering set up capable of generating frequency with amplitude modulation to induce TTF’s (150kHz). And second aim is to perform experiments on panc-1 cells stained with PEG BODIPY dye cultured in a custom designed Delta T dish using picoquant confocal microscope. Lifetime measurement of the dye clearly suggests that temperature does increase in the cells with time.

Keywords

Tumor treating Fields, Hyperthermia, PEG BODIPY Dye, Confocal Microscopy, Lifetime measurement, panc-1 cancer cells, brain tumor, alternating electric fields, frequency generator, frequency treatment

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