Ion Channels: New Actors Playing in Chemotherapeutic Resistance

Philippe Kischel1, Alban Girault2, Lise Rodat-Despoix3

  • 1Laboratoire de Physiologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire (EA 4667), Université de Picardie Jules Verne, UFR des Sciences, 33 Rue St Leu, 80039 Amiens, France. Philippe.Kischel@u-picardie.fr.

Cancers
|March 20, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Drug resistance limits cancer therapies. This review explores how ion channels contribute to cancer cell resistance to chemotherapy and the molecular mechanisms involved.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Biophysics

Background:

  • Cancer therapeutic resistance is a major clinical challenge, leading to disease recurrence.
  • Altered ion channel expression is a hallmark of cancer and linked to treatment failure.
  • Ion channels' roles in chemoresistance have gained significant attention in the last decade.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the relationship between ion channels and chemotherapy resistance in cancer.
  • To emphasize the molecular mechanisms underlying this association.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies on ion channels and cancer chemoresistance.
  • Analysis of molecular mechanisms linking ion channel function/expression to chemotherapy response.

Main Results:

  • Ion channels are implicated in various aspects of cancer cell survival and drug resistance.
  • Specific ion channels and their altered functions contribute to chemoresistance.
  • Emerging evidence highlights the molecular pathways involved.

Conclusions:

  • Ion channels represent a critical factor in cancer drug resistance.
  • Understanding these molecular mechanisms may reveal novel therapeutic targets for overcoming chemoresistance.

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