Cancer cells are very diverse but mostly share a common metabolic property: they are strongly glycolytic even
though oxygen is available. Herein, the metabolic abnormalities of cancer cells are interpreted as modifications
of the electric currents in redox reactions. A lower current in the electron transport chain, an increase of the
concentration of reduced cofactors and a partial reversal of the tricarboxylic acid cycle are physical characteristics of several forms of cancer. The existence of electric short-circuits between oxidative branches and reductive
branches of the metabolic network argue in favor of an electronic approach of cancer in the nanoscopic scale.
These changes of electron flows induce a pseudo-hypoxia and the Warburg effect through succinate production
and divert electrons from oxygen to biosynthetic pathways. This new look at cancer may have potential therapeutic applications.
