Transcriptional Expressions of SCNs Family Correlates With Overall Survival in Patients With Breast Cancer

Background: Voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channels encoded by SCNs are heteromeric protein complexes containing pore-forming α subunits together with non-pore-forming β subunits. Ion channels play an important role in the regulation of many cellular processes during normal physiology, and increasingly recognized for their contribution to pathophysiology, including cancers. Numerous studies in the last years have reported the expression of SCNs in metastatic cells of many cancers and their upregulation have been evident in promoting migration, invasion and metastasis, whereas it remains unclear whether distinct SCNs family members play an important role in the development and progression of BC. Results: The study investigated the roles of SCNs in the prognosis of BC using ONCOMINE, UALCAN, Kaplan-Meier Plotter, GEPIA, Metascape, LinkedOmics databases. The results showed that transcriptional and proteinic expressions of 9 SCNs were downregulated in patients with BC, including SCN1A~4A, 7A, 9A and SCN2B~4B. low expressions of 11 SCNs members were found to be significantly associated with poorer overall survival (OS) in BC patients (P＜0.01), including SCN2A, 3A, 5A, 7A, 9A~11A and SCN1B~4B. Moreover, prognostic value of mRNA expression of SCNs could only be seen in HER2-negative BC patients when we performed subgroup analysis. Conclusions: : These results indicated that SCNs could be prognostic biomarkers for survivals of BC patients. Some medicines that regulate SCNs might provide new targets for BC treatment.