The inverted U‐shaped relationship between epinephrine and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients' survival with compensation of lymphocyte

Abstract

Abstract Background The relationship between epinephrine and cancer can be dose‐dependent in in vivo study. Whether it is the same in human body still needs verification. Method We used frozen human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tissues to detect epinephrine content and analyzed its relationship with survival using the K‐M method and Cox regression. Disturbance of blood cell count and C‐reactive protein and identification of related potent intermediary factors were also analyzed. Results K‐M plot and Cox regression all showed the inverted U‐shaped relationship between epinephrine and PDAC survival. Lymphocyte adjustment can increase the HRs of epinephrine for PDAC death by >10%. Conclusion Epinephrine played an anti‐tumor or pro‐tumor effect depending on the specific concentration. Circulating lymphocyte count was elevated and might acted as a compensation pathway to reduce the pro‐tumor effect of epinephrine to PDAC.

Keywords

• immunology
• pancreatic cancer
• prognostic factor
• survival