Voltage-gated sodium channels: Multi-faceted involvement in cancer

A substantial body of in vitro and in vivo evidence suggests that de novo expression of voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) occurs in several carcinomas and drives the metastatic process (Djamgoz et al. 2019). It is well known that chemotherapy can lead to peripheral neuropathy, and this could be associated with an alteration in VGSC expression/activity. We questioned whether blocking VGSC activity would affect the cytotoxic impact of paclitaxel (PTX) upon human strongly metastatic MDA-MB-231 cells.