Cancer-related aspects of regeneration research: a review.

Tissue regeneration is simply the replacement of lost cells of a tissue by those remaining. Epimorphic regeneration involves dedifferentiation of many tissues and their organization into a blastema which eventually differentiates into the missing part, usually an appendage. A detailed comparison of the cell membrane changes occurring in epimorphic regeneration, tissue regeneration and cancer can contribute to greater understanding of the differences between normal and tumor cells. Further, there is evidence that epimorphic regeneration fields may in some instances suppress tuomr induction and control existing tumors. This influence may be mediated by bioelectric fields, which are ubiquitous in nature and appear to control many cellular events. Disruption of these bioelectric fields suppresses epimorphic regeneration and may lead to cancer in mammals, while applied electric fields alter regenerative events and cause tumor regression.