Background
The
Conclusions
The findings of this study indicate that patients with stomach cancer have a more unfavorable prognosis when they have a higher density of sympathetic nerve fibers and an increased expression of beta 2 adrenergic receptors inside the tumor.
Methods
We performed a retrospective study in which we analyzed the clinical, biological, and histological data from a total of 104 patients diagnosed with stomach cancer. (3)
Results
After analyzing the immunoreactivity of beta 2 adrenoreceptors, we observed increased values in patients with tumors larger than 5 cm in diameter (p = 0.0371), with a deeper degree of tumor invasion T3-4 (p = 0.0159), invasion in more than two lymph nodes (p = 0.0462), or a TNM stage III-IV. Regarding the survival analysis, better survival rates (65%) were observed for patients with a low value of beta 2 adrenoreceptors (B2A-), compared to B2A (+) patients, in which survival at 3 years of follow-up was only 43%. In addition, the analysis of intra-tumoral sympathetic fibers showed a better survival rate (83%) for patients with a low value of density compared to patients with increased density, in whom the survival rate was only 24%. (4) Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that patients with stomach cancer have a more unfavorable prognosis when they have a higher density of sympathetic nerve fibers and an increased expression of beta 2 adrenergic receptors inside the tumor.