Zoe Eisenstein

Working Title: Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels in Stomach Cancer Metabolism and Therapeutic Targeting

Started Mar. 11, 2026

Abstract or project description

This project is a comprehensive, systematic literature review and bioinformatic synthesis investigating the intersection of sodium-mediated cellular changes and cancer metabolism. High environmental risk factors for gastric adenocarcinoma (stomach cancer) include high dietary sodium consumption and chronic Helicobacter pylori infection. However, a critical gap remains in understanding how this external tissue stress translates into internal metabolic rewriting.

This review explores the hypothesis that localized inflammatory stress and altered sodium ion concentrations abnormally upregulate non-excitable voltage-gated sodium channels (i.e., SCN5A, SCN8A, SCN9A) in stomach epithelial cells. The resulting intracellular sodium influx creates an energy imbalance, forcing the cell to overwork its ATP-dependent pumps and consequently activate aerobic glycolysis (the Warburg Effect).

To ground this review with clinical data, this project integrates primary public genomics datasets using GEPIA2. By analyzing patient cohorts from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx), this study evaluates differential gene expression profiles between healthy gastric tissue and malignant tumors, mapping the direct correlation between sodium channel expression, master glycolytic markers (such as LDHA and GLUT1), and long-term patient survival outcomes.

Finally, the project examines clinical applications, reviewing the feasibility of repurposing safe, FDA-approved cardiac and anesthetic sodium channel blockers to effectively "starve" the metabolic engine of gastric tumors.