RESUMO
PURPOSE: To study the correlations of the recurrence of gastric cancer in patients after radical surgery with serum gastrointestinal hormones, serum anti-Helicobacter pylori (anti-HP) immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody and vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs). METHODS: According to whether gastric cancer recurred within five years after surgery, the patients were divided into recurrence group (RE group, gastric cancer recurred within five years after surgery, n=78) and non-recurrence group (NR group, gastric cancer did not recur within five years after surgery, n=69). Differences in lymph node metastasis, gastrointestinal hormones, VEGFs, anti-HP IgG antibody and the tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage between RE group and NR group were detected and compared, so as to analyze the correlations of these factors with the recurrence of gastric cancer in patients after radical surgery. RESULTS: The levels of gastrin (GAS) and motilin (MTL) after meals in RE group and NR group were slightly higher than those before meals. The levels of GAS and MTL in RE group were higher than those in NR group in the two periods (p<0.05). Besides, compared with NR group, RE group had lower pepsinogen (PG) I, PG II and PG I/II ratio (PGR), but a higher positive value of anti-HP IgG antibody (p<0.05) and higher levels of VEGF-A, VEGF-C and VEGF-D (p<0.05). Moreover, there were markedly more cases of gastric cancer in stage III, remarkably few cases of gastric cancer in stage I and obviously more cases of lymph node metastasis in RE group than those in NR group (p<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that gastrointestinal hormones, lymph node metastasis, VEGFs, the TNM stage of gastric cancer and anti-HP IgG antibody were all risk factors for the recurrence of gastric cancer after radical surgery (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The recurrence of gastric cancer in patients after radical surgery is related to the TNM stage of gastric cancer, gastrointestinal hormones, VEGFs, lymph node metastasis, anti-HP IgG antibody and other factors.
