PEMF is not a cancer treatment
Pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy is not a treatment or cure for cancer. Cancer is a serious, potentially life-threatening condition that requires care from qualified oncology professionals. Do not delay, avoid, or replace medically supervised cancer care with PEMF or any wellness device. If you or a loved one has cancer, please consult a licensed physician and oncology team before considering any complementary approach. Some PEMF devices are FDA-cleared for specific unrelated uses (for example, adjunct treatment of certain nonunion fractures and postoperative pain). No general-wellness PEMF system sold by ElectroMeds is FDA-cleared, approved, or authorized for the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of cancer of any kind.
What this page is and is not
This page summarizes what the published research literature reports about pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) and cancer cells. It does not claim that any PEMF device will treat, cure, prevent, slow, shrink, or affect any cancer in any person. The studies described below examined isolated cells (in vitro) or laboratory animals (in vivo); they are not clinical evidence that a device does anything for a person with cancer.
What the literature has examined
A 2019 review published in Cancers (Vadala et al., “Mechanisms and therapeutic effectiveness of pulsed electromagnetic field therapy in oncology,” Cancer Medicine) surveyed the in-vitro and in-vivo research on PEMF exposure of cancer cell lines. The review reported that PEMF exposure has been studied in laboratory settings involving cell lines derived from skin, breast, prostate, hepatocellular, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, bladder, thyroid, and colon cancer. The authors described the observed cellular effects as inconsistent across studies and noted that the underlying mechanisms are not established. They did not conclude that PEMF is a treatment for any human cancer.
Separate laboratory work has examined whether specific PEMF frequencies produce different cellular responses in different tumor cell lines. Those studies are hypothesis-generating; they do not describe outcomes in patients.
Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) are a different technology
Tumor Treating Fields is an FDA-approved medical device (Optune, Novocure) that uses alternating electric fields at 200 kHz, delivered by transducer arrays worn on the scalp under physician supervision, and is authorized for specific indications in glioblastoma and mesothelioma. TTFields is a prescription oncology device. It is not PEMF and is not related to the general-wellness PEMF devices sold by ElectroMeds. Nothing on this page should be read as suggesting that PEMF and TTFields are comparable technologies or that a PEMF device produces TTFields-like effects.
Regulatory status
According to the FDA’s device database, PEMF devices carry clearances for specific indications such as adjunct treatment of certain nonunion long bone fractures (bone growth stimulators, e.g. K833311 Physio-Stim class), adjunct postoperative treatment of certain surgical pain and edema, and treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (transcranial magnetic stimulation devices, a separate regulated category). No PEMF device has FDA clearance, approval, or authorization for the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of cancer.
Contraindications
PEMF is generally not recommended for individuals with implanted electronic medical devices (pacemakers, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, cochlear implants, insulin pumps, deep-brain stimulators), during pregnancy, or in the presence of active bleeding. Anyone with cancer or a history of cancer should discuss the use of any wellness device with their oncology team before proceeding. See PEMF Contraindications.