A Roadmap for Bioelectric Electrochemical Sensing in Cancer

Abstract

Real-time electrochemical measurements of ionic fluxes and bioelectric signals are set to refine cancer diagnosis and longitudinal follow-ups with the goal of targeting electrophysiological features of clinically useful matrices. Nanoengineered electrodes translate biomolecules and ions into robust electrochemical signals for both laboratory workflows and point-of-care testing. The translational aim is to integrate electrochemical sensing into coherent, physiology-grounded readouts that resolve tumor ion channel dysfunction, membrane depolarization, pericellular acidification, and redox imbalance. Realizing this vision now depends on practical engineering and clinical integration. To advance this ongoing development, researchers are building stable, disposable, portable, and miniaturized electrochemical platforms that couple detection with microfluidics to enrich tumor cells, vesicles, and bio ionic markers for multiplexed cancer measurements. The integration of wearable and implantable systems with machine learning and patient-specific digital twins will enable real-time maps of tumor electrophysiology and model-driven forecasts of treatment response. This perspective outlines a translational roadmap for electrochemical detection of bioelectric biomarkers in cancer, wherein biomarker classes are systematically mapped to corresponding transduction strategies and mechanistic fidelity is reconciled with practical assay design constraints to identify key challenges and opportunities for advancing these technologies from foundational research to validated clinical implementation in precision oncology.