Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jan;27(1):81-90.
doi: 10.1177/10998004241268088. Epub 2024 Aug 13.

Associations Between Preoperative Shortness of Breath and Potassium Channels Gene Variations in Women With Breast Cancer

Joosun Shin  1 , Marilyn J Hammer  1 , Steven M Paul  2 , Yvette P Conley  3 , Carolyn Harris  3 , Kate Oppegaard  4 , Lisa Morse  2 , Bruce A Cooper  2 , Jon D Levine  4 , Christine Miaskowski  2   5
Affiliations

Associations Between Preoperative Shortness of Breath and Potassium Channels Gene Variations in Women With Breast Cancer

Joosun Shin et al. Biol Res Nurs. 2025 Jan.

Abstract

Objectives: Shortness of breath is a common symptom in patients with cancer. However, the mechanisms that underlie this troublesome symptom are poorly understood. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of and associated risk factors for shortness of breath in women prior to breast cancer surgery and identify associations between shortness of breath and polymorphisms for potassium channel genes.

Methods: Patients were recruited prior to breast cancer surgery and completed a self-report questionnaire on the occurrence of shortness of breath. Genotyping of single nucleotides polymorphism (SNPs) in potassium channel genes was performed using a custom array. Multiple logistic regression analyses were done to identify associations between the occurrence of shortness of breath and SNPs in ten candidate genes.

Results: Of the 398 patients, 11.1% reported shortness of breath. These patients had a lower annual household income, a higher comorbidity burden, and a lower functional status. After controlling for functional status, comorbidity burden, genomic estimates of ancestry and self-reported race and ethnicity, the genetic associations that remained significant in the multiple regression analyses were for potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily D (KCND2) rs12673992, potassium voltage-gated channel modifier subfamily S (KCNS1) rs4499491, and potassium two pore channel subfamily K (KCNK2) rs4411107.

Conclusions: While these findings warrant replication, they suggest that alterations in potassium channel function may contribute to the occurrence of shortness of breath in women prior to breast cancer surgery.

Keywords: breast cancer; potassium channels; shortness of breath; single nucleotide polymorphisms.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Alfano P., Cuttitta G., Audino P., Fazio G., La Grutta S., Marcantonio S., Snamid Palermo Cooperative Group, Bucchieri S. (2022). Relationship between multimorbidity and quality of life in a primary care setting: The mediating role of dyspnea. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 11(3), 656. 10.3390/jcm11030656 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alrabghi G., Liu Y., Hu W., Hancox J. C., Zhang H. (2023). Human atrial fibrillation and genetic defects in transient outward currents: Mechanistic insights from multi-scale computational models. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London - Series B: Biological Sciences, 378(1879), Article 20220166. 10.1098/rstb.2022.0166 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Al-Saady N. M., Obel O. A., Camm A. J. (1999). Left atrial appendage: Structure, function, and role in thromboembolism. Heart, 82(5), 547–554. 10.1136/hrt.82.5.547 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ban W., Lee J. M., Ha J. H., Yeo C. D., Kang H. H., Rhee C. K., Moon H. S., Lee S. H. (2016). Dyspnea as a prognostic factor in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Yonsei Medical Journal, 57(5), 1063–1069. 10.3349/ymj.2016.57.5.1063 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bardou O., Trinh N. T., Brochiero E. (2009). Molecular diversity and function of K+ channels in airway and alveolar epithelial cells. American Journal of Physiology - Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, 296(2), L145–L155. 10.1152/ajplung.90525.2008 - DOI - PubMed

Substances

LinkOut - more resources