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Cancer: A bioelectric disease?
Celine Desoyer1, Roko Šupe1, Sahar Ghorbanpour1
1Institute of Health Care Engineering with European Testing Center of Medical Devices, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria.
Clinical and Translational Medicine
|May 21, 2026
Summary
Cancer cells exhibit altered electrical properties, specifically depolarized membrane potential (Vm), a hallmark of malignancy. This research proposes a framework to utilize Vm as a key control variable in precision oncology.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Bioelectricity
- Systems Biology
Background:
- Cancer progression involves complex signaling networks, with genetic and epigenetic factors well-studied.
- Emerging evidence highlights bioelectric signaling, particularly transmembrane potential (Vm), as a crucial regulatory layer in tumor biology.
- Malignant cells consistently show depolarized Vm, correlating with proliferation, stemness, invasion, and therapy resistance, suggesting it as a conserved hallmark.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the extent to which Vm functions as an integrative regulatory dimension of malignancy.
- To address the lack of a quantitative, translationally actionable framework for membrane potential in cancer.
- To establish Vm as a cross-tumour, systems-level state variable.
Main Methods:
- Summarized approximately 15 years of experimental and translational research on Vm in cancer.
- Defined Vm as a measurable, dynamically tuneable state variable integrating regulatory inputs and predicting cellular behavior.
- Identified limitations in current evidence, including quantitative comparability, mechanistic integration, tumor heterogeneity resolution, and clinical translation standardization.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated that Vm acts as an integrative regulatory dimension of malignancy.
- Highlighted Vm's role as a conserved bioelectric hallmark across diverse experimental systems.
- Identified critical limitations hindering the translational application of Vm in cancer research.
Conclusions:
- Introduced a quantitative framework and translational roadmap for bioelectric state control in precision oncology.
- Established membrane potential (Vm) as a supplementary biomarker, pharmacodynamic indicator, and actionable control variable.
- Advocated for incorporating Vm into state-guided therapeutic interventions for precision oncology.
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