Paper Spotlight: Influence of High Altitude on Ecuadorian Patients with Gastric Adenocarcinoma

Posted by

Oncotarget

Oncotarget published this research paper on September 14, 2022 in Volume 13, entitled, "Influence of high altitude on the expression of HIF-1 and on the prognosis of Ecuadorian patients with gastric adenocarcinoma" by researchers from the Universidad Central del Ecuador, Ciencias Médicas, Carrera de Medicina, Hospital de Especialidades de Fuerzas Armadas HE-1, Quito, Ecuador; Department of Surgery and Anatomy, Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Social Medicine, Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Pathology, Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Internal Medicine, Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28275 Correspondence to - José Sebastiao dos Santos - lab.biomol.cirugia@fmrp.usp.br Abstract Since the incidence of gastric adenocarcinoma (GA) is high in populations living at high altitudes, we evaluated the influence of altitude on the expression of HIF-1 and survival of Ecuadorian GA patients. Method: 155 GA cases were studied: 56 from coastal (GAC) and 99 from mountainous regions (GAM), and 74 non-GA controls (25 coast and 49 mountain). The expression of HIF-1/HER2 was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Analyses were performed using Fisher's exact and Breslow-Day tests for homogeneity and Kaplan-Meier curves and restricted median survival time ΔRMST. Results: HIF-1 was overexpressed in normal/inflamed gastric mucosa, especially in mountainous non-GA patients (p = 0.001). There was no difference between GAC and GAM in terms of age/gender, HIF-1/HER2 expression, stage/tumor location. Median survival at 120 months was significantly higher among GAC, with a difference (ΔRMST) of 43.7 months (95% CI 29.5, 57.8) (p < 0.001) and those with positive HIF-1 expression: ΔRMST 26.6 months (95% CI 11.0, 42.1) (p < 0.001). Positive HIF-1 expression was associated with better GAM survival, with ΔRMST 33.6 months (95% CI 14.2, 52.9) (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Despite the limitations of this retrospective study, GA patients in the coastal region and those who expressed HIF-1 exhibited a better prognosis, but this factor was associated with better survival only in the mountain region. Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article - https://oncotarget.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Foncotarget.28275 Keywords - cancer, gastric adenocarcinoma, hypoxia-induced factor, HER2, survival rate, tumor markers About Oncotarget Oncotarget is a primarily oncology-focused, peer-reviewed, open access journal. Papers are published continuously within yearly volumes in their final and complete form, and then quickly released to Pubmed. To learn more about Oncotarget, please visit https://www.oncotarget.com and connect with us: SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/oncotarget Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Oncotarget/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/oncotarget Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/oncotargetjrnl/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/OncotargetYouTube LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/oncotarget Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/oncotarget/ Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/user/Oncotarget/ Media Contact MEDIA@IMPACTJOURNALS.COM 18009220957