TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taiwanese-led study published in Nature has found that small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) cells exhibit electrical activity that can drive tumor progression, marking a discovery in cancer research.
Cancer remains the number one cause of death in Taiwan, with lung cancer leading cancer-related deaths, according to the health ministry. Lung said cancer incidence has been rising, with a significant portion of cancer cases among non-smokers in Taiwan.
Lung cancer has a high mortality rate and a low survival rate, especially in advanced stages. This makes early detection through screening programs crucial for survival.
The highly malignant SCLC makes up one in 10 lung cancer cases, with the majority of patients passing away within 24 months. While cancer cell growth can be potentially controlled with proper treatment, the conditions necessary to stop the aggressive progression of SCLC have been unclear for years.
Francis Crick Institute cancer laboratory head and former National Taiwan University medical student Leanne Li (李力恩) said her multinational team discovered that SCLC cells can generate electrical activity, a characteristic of neurons. Li said the finding enables researchers to explore neurological treatments for cancer, such as antiepileptic drugs, per CNA.
The study found that SCLC exhibits electrical activity through neuroendocrine and non-neuroendocrine cancer cells. Mutated NE cells in SCLC autonomously generated electrical signals to issue orders for tumor aggression, while non-NE cells supplied nutrients.
Li’s team conducted their experiment with laboratory mice and tetrodotoxin. It found that as tumor cells were inhibited from generating electricity using neurological methods, metastasis decreased. The mice’s survival time was also extended by about ⅓.
The most interesting finding for Li was that when the cancer reached its late stages, SCLC could imitate the nerves to generate electricity autonomously. She said that in the early stages, SCLC triggered a large number of nerve growths but showed a decline in neural connections in the late stages.