Engineered Electrotherapy Platforms: Integrating Electroactive Materials for Precision Cancer Therapy

Inspired by endogenous physiological electric fields, electro-mediated therapeutic strategies represent promising approaches for targeted cancer therapy owing to their deep tissue penetration and spatiotemporal precision. The integration of biomaterials and nanotechnology with electrotherapy has emerged as a key strategy to enhance tumor-specific electron delivery and improve therapeutic outcomes. This review summarizes recent advances in bioengineered electrotherapy, covering technologies like electroporation, triboelectric nanogenerators, electrochemical systems (including galvanic, electrocatalytic, and piezoelectric/pyroelectric mechanisms), and eddy currents. Rational biomedical engineering design enables three primary therapeutic mechanisms: 1) disrupting cancer cell proliferation through membrane modulation, ion channel interference, and metabolic perturbation; 2) enabling precise drug/cytokine delivery via biomaterial-enhanced electroporation; and 3) modulating the tumor microenvironment (TME) through electrically triggered generation of heat, therapeutic gases (such as H2, H2S, and NO), and reactive oxygen species. Nanomaterial engineering strategies, including heterojunction construction, defect engineering, and surface modification, optimize charge transfer kinetics to potentiate electrical effects. The development of intelligent biohybrid platforms further advances capabilities for localized energy delivery, immune modulation, and TME reprogramming. This review highlights the pivotal role of biomedical engineering in advancing electrotherapeutic technologies and proposes translational frameworks that integrate bioactive materials, biotechnological tools, and precision electrical paradigms to address oncology challenges.