What the Latest MD Anderson Study Means for Medical Qigong
Apr 21, 2026
What if working with the body's energy field could slow one of the deadliest cancers in medicine? A landmark study just published by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center suggests that it is no longer just a philosophical claim. It is becoming measurable science.
A Groundbreaking Study Four Years in the Making
Published in Cancer Medicine on April 12, 2026, the study "The Preclinical Effects and Mechanisms of Biofield Therapy on Pancreatic Cancer Cell Growth and Metastasis" is one of the most rigorous scientific investigations ever conducted into the biological effects of Biofield Therapy (BT).
Led by Dr. Lorenzo Cohen, Director of MD Anderson's Integrative Medicine Program, and Dr. Peiying Yang, Professor of Palliative, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine, the team spent four years exposing human and mouse pancreatic cancer cell lines and patient-derived tumor organoids to BT treatments.
The results were striking.
BT significantly reduced cancer cell proliferation across every model tested. In three separate mouse studies, liver metastasis was reduced by more than 50%, an effect comparable to chemotherapy, without toxic side effects.
The study also identified how BT appears to work at the cellular level: it triggered structural changes in mitochondria, shifted cell membrane electrical potential toward hyperpolarization, and downregulated FOXM1, a key oncogene that drives tumor growth and spread.
Because this was a preclinical study conducted on cells and animals, the results cannot be attributed to placebo effect. Something measurable is happening at the biological level.
"We saw a consistent, meaningful reduction in tumor invasiveness and metastasis," said Dr. Cohen. "The results are not only measurable, they are repeatable across different therapists, models, and experiments."
What Is Biofield Therapy?
Biofield Therapy is an umbrella term for non-invasive healing practices that work with the body's subtle energy field to restore balance and stimulate the body's innate healing capacity. Recognized by the National Cancer Institute as a category of energy therapy, BT includes Reiki, Healing Touch, Therapeutic Touch, and Medical Qigong.
The biofield refers to the complex of electromagnetic and energetic fields generated by living cells, tissues, and organs. Practitioners work within this field, through touch, near-body hand positions, or at a distance, to clear blockages, rebalance energy flow, and support physiological healing.
Medical Qigong Is Biofield Therapy
For those familiar with Traditional Chinese Medicine and Daoist practice, none of this is surprising. Medical Qigong, which is the oldest branch practiced for over 4,000 years in China, is a direct expression of BT. Practitioners cultivate and emit qi to influence a patient's energy field through both internal self-practice and external practitioner-to-patient techniques.
Measurable electromagnetic signals reaching 105 nT have been recorded during external qi emission in controlled laboratory settings, at distances of 20 to 40 cm from the practitioner's body. Qigong has also demonstrated clinical reductions in inflammatory biomarkers (NF-kB), cortisol, blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and fatigue in peer-reviewed trials.
The MD Anderson study opens a new chapter, not just for energy medicine research, but for how we understand the therapeutic potential of practices like Medical Qigong.
What This Means
This study does not claim that BT cures cancer. What it establishes is that biofield-based interventions produce real, repeatable, measurable biological effects, significant enough to warrant human clinical trials and serious mechanistic investigation at one of the world's top cancer research institutions.
For practitioners of Medical Qigong, this is a validation of what tradition has always understood: the body is not only biochemistry. It is energy. And energy can heal.
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If you or someone you know is navigating a cancer diagnosis or chronic illness, our clinic offers individual Medical Qigong sessions grounded in the same biofield principles now under study at MD Anderson. [Book a Call Here]
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