Hydrogen Therapy Shows Promise Against Brain and Breast Cancer in Mice
- Authors
- Guohua Qi, Bo Wang, Xiangfu Song, Haijuan Li, Yongdong Jin
- Journal
- National Science Review
- Year
- 2019
- DOI
- 10.1093/nsr/nwz199
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Glioma
- Body System
- Nervous System
TL;DR
Scientists used acupuncture needles and a small electric current to create hydrogen gas inside tumors, effectively killing cancer cells in mice without the need for complex equipment or drugs.
Key Finding
Acupuncture needle electrodes generated hydrogen gas directly within tumors, causing cancer cell death in mouse models of glioma and breast cancer.
Summary
Researchers used acupuncture needles as electrodes to generate hydrogen gas directly inside tumors in mice with glioma and breast cancer. When a small electrical voltage was applied, the needles produced hydrogen in the acidic tumor environment, which caused cancer cells to die. This approach was minimally invasive, required no expensive equipment, and showed promise in treating tumors in laboratory mice.
Practical Takeaway
This is early-stage research in mice only, and the technique requires surgical placement of electrodes into tumors—it is not a form of hydrogen water or any consumer product. While results in mice were promising, many animal studies do not translate to human effectiveness, and human clinical trials would be needed before any conclusions about cancer treatment could be drawn.
Abstract
Abstract By combined use of traditional Chinese acupuncture Fe needle electrode and in vivo electrochemistry, we achieved in vivo H2 generation in tumors in a controllable manner and exploited it for effective and green therapy of tumors for the first time. The cathodic acupuncture electrodes working under an applied voltage of ∼3 V (with minimal damage to the living body) undergo effective electrochemical reactions in the acidic tumor area that produce sufficient H2 locally to cause cancer cells to burst and die. Due to puncture positioning, the acidic tumor microenvironment and gas diffusion effect, the developed H2 generation electrochemotherapy (H2-ECT) strategy enables precise and large-scale tumor therapy, as demonstrated by in vivo treatment of diseased mice (glioma and breast cancers). Such green H2-ECT is simple, highly efficient and minimally invasive, requiring no expensive medical equipment or nano materials and medication, and is therefore very promising for potential clinical applications.