离子通道是跨膜结构，允许离子穿过细胞膜，如质膜或各种细胞器的膜，比如细胞核、内质网、高尔基体或线粒体。已经证明，在几种肿瘤细胞中能发现不正常的多种离子通道表达，导致了肿瘤发展中的关键功能促进，如细胞增殖、对凋亡的抵抗、血管生成、侵袭和转移。离子通道和这些促进肿瘤发展的关键生物功能之间的联系，导致了将癌症归类为肿瘤离子通道病。在所有离子通道中，最多样化和数量最多，并形成最大家族的是钾离子通道，在人类中编码这些通道的基因超过70个。在这个背景下，本综述将提供关于质膜钾离子通道在癌症中的作用的非详尽概览，描述：1）钾离子通道的命名和结构，2）这些通道在控制促进肿瘤发展的生物功能中的作用，如增殖、迁移和细胞死亡，以及3）两个特定类别的钾离子通道，SKCa-和Kv1-型钾离子通道在癌症进展中的作用。 版权所有©2023 Elsevier Inc.发表。

Ion channels are transmembrane structures that allow the passage of ions across cell membranes such as the plasma membrane or the membranes of various organelles like the nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus or mitochondria. Aberrant expression of various ion channels has been demonstrated in several tumor cells, leading to the promotion of key functions in tumor development, such as cell proliferation, resistance to apoptosis, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis. The link between ion channels and these key biological functions that promotes tumor development has led to the classification of cancers as oncochannelopathies. Among all ion channels, the most varied and numerous, forming the largest family, are the potassium channels, with over 70 genes encoding them in humans. In this context, this review will provide a non-exhaustive overview of the role of plasma membrane potassium channels in cancer, describing 1) the nomenclature and structure of potassium channels, 2) the role of these channels in the control of biological functions that promotes tumor development such as proliferation, migration and cell death, and 3) the role of two particular classes of potassium channels, the SKCa- and Kv1- type potassium channels in cancer progression.Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.