Tumor Treating Fields, also known as TTFields, are a novel non-invasive anti-mitotic cancer treatment modality that uses alternating electric fields to disrupt cancer cell division. TTFields were developed by Novocure and work by sending low-intensity, intermediate-frequency electric fields through electrodes placed on the patient's skin near the tumor site. These fields disrupt normal mitotic processes in rapidly dividing cancer cells, causing them to die or stop replicating and preventing tumor growth.

Tumor Treating Field Workings

When cells prepare to divide through mitosis, they organize their intracellular structures in specific geometric patterns. Tumor Treating Fields Mitotic spindle fibers composed of microtubules are formed and manipulated to separate the duplicate chromosomes between the two nascent daughter cells. TTFields work by disrupting the natural patterns of these polarization waves required for proper mitotic spindle assembly and function. The alternating electric fields generate forces on intracellular structures like microtubules and chromosomes through dielectrophoresis.

This alters their configurations and prevents the accurate separation of duplicated DNA during cell division. Without being able to effectively divide, cancer cells cannot proliferate and tumors are unable to growth. Meanwhile, normal cells are unaffected due to their greater resistance to external electromagnetic interference during their division process.

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