Pharmacological and nutritional targeting of voltage-gated sodium channels in the treatment of cancers.

Voltage-gated sodium (Na) channels, initially characterized in excitable cells, have been shown to be aberrantly expressed in non-excitable cancer tissues and cells from epithelial origins such as in breast, lung, prostate, colon, and cervix, whereas they are not expressed in cognate non-cancer tissues. Their activity was demonstrated to promote aggressive and invasive potencies of cancer cells, both and , whereas their deregulated expression in cancer tissues has been associated with metastatic progression and cancer-related death. This review proposes Na channels as pharmacological targets for anticancer treatments providing opportunities for repurposing existing Na-inhibitors or developing new pharmacological and nutritional interventions.