Terahertz Demethylation for Cancer Therapy

Terahertz (THz) radiation has garnered attention in medical imaging owing to its non-ionizing characteristics. THz cancer imaging utilizes amplitude and/or phase changes resulting from variations in the cell structure and water content of cancerous tissues. To identify cancer-specific signals using THz radiation, DNA from various cancer cells was observed to exhibit a resonance feature at approximately 1.6 THz, which was attributed to DNA hypermethylation. DNA methylation is an epigenetic alteration that precedes genetic mutations during cancer development. Although pharmaceutical demethylation agents effectively reduce DNA methylation, they cause numerous side effects. We demonstrated that 1.6-THz radiation can effectively reduce the level of DNA methylation in cancer cells and tissues, as well as in extracted DNA. This review provides comprehensive details regarding the THz-mediated demethylation of cancerous DNA that may contribute to the development of cancer treatments using THz radiation.