Ion channels or aquaporins as novel molecular targets in gastric cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is a common disease with few effective treatment choices and poor prognosis, and has the second-highest mortality rates among all cancers worldwide. Dysregulation and/or malfunction of ion channels or aquaporins (AQPs) are common in various human cancers. Furthermore, ion channels are involved in numerous important aspects of the tumor aggressive phonotype, such as proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis, motility, migration, and invasion. Indeed, by localizing in the plasma membrane, ion channels or AQPs can sense and respond to extracellular environment changes; thus, they play a crucial role in cell signaling and cancer progression. These findings have expanded a new area of pharmaceutical exploration for various types of cancer, including GC. The involvement of multiple ion channels, such as voltage-gated potassium and sodium channels, intracellular chloride channels, ‘transient receptor potential’ channels, and AQPs, which have been shown to facilitate the pathogenesis of other tumors, also plays a role in GC. In this review, an overview of ion channel and aquaporin expression and function in carcinogenesis of GC is presented. Studies of ion channels or AQPs will advance our understanding of the molecular genesis of GC and may identify novel and effective targets for the clinical application of GC.