Electrical Characterization of Normal and Cancer Cells

TLDR

The study aims to characterize and discriminate normal and cancer cells from liver, lung, and breast tissues using capacitance–voltage–derived electrical parameters, establishing a basis for detection and discrimination. Cells from each cancer line were suspended in liquid media, alone or mixed with their normal counterparts, and their capacitance–voltage responses were measured to extract discriminative parameters. Normal cells exhibit higher dielectric constants than cancer cells, and the addition of cancer cells increases normal cell capacitance—most markedly in lung tissue—while cancer cells display distinct electrical signatures that vary by tissue type, with dielectric values ranking breast < lung < liver, reflecting physiological, biochemical, and morphological changes.

Abstract

In this paper, we characterize and discriminate between normal and cancer cells from three different tissue types, liver, lung, and breast, using capacitance–voltage-based extracted set of parameters. Cells from each type of cancer cell line were suspended in a liquid media either individually or as mixtures with their normal counterparts. Empirically, normal cells were observed to exhibit higher dielectric constants when compared to cancer cells from the same tissue. Moreover, adding cancer cells to normal cells was observed to increase the capacitance of normal cells, and the extent of this increase varied with the type of tissue tested with the lung cells causing the greatest change. This shows that the cancer cells of different cell origin possess their own signature electrical parameters, especially when compared with their normal counterparts, and that cancer cell seems to affect normal cells in a different manner, depending upon the tissue type. It was also noticed that the cells (both cancer and normal) exhibited a higher dielectric value as per the following order (from least to most): breast, lung, and liver. The changes in electrical parameters from normal to cancer state were explained not only by the modification of its physiological and biochemical properties but also by the morphological changes. This approach paves the way for exploring unique electrical signatures of normal and their corresponding cancer cells to enable their detection and discrimination.