Table 4.
Comparison of post-treatment serum biomarkers among the treatment groups.
| Treatment Group (n = 6 Per Group) |
Serum Levels |
Active Ghrelin (fmol/mL) |
Deacyl Ghrelin (fmol/mL) |
IL-6 (pg/mL) |
IGF-1 (pg/mL) |
Albumin (mg/mL) |
Creatinine (mg/mL) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-treated control | Mean ± SD | 4.3 ± 1.1 | 202 ± 122 | 76.8 ± 26.5 | 163 ± 36 | 0.99 ± 0.07 | 0.58 ± 0.07 |
| Anamorelin | Mean ± SD | 4.2 ± 1.8 | 234 ± 55 | 78.5 ± 17.5 | 144 ± 45 | 1.08 ± 0.15 | 0.59 ± 0.02 |
| p value (vs control) | n.s. | n.s. | n.s. | n.s. | n.s. | n.s. | |
| 5-ALA | Mean ± SD | 3.9 ± 0.5 | 203 ± 92 | 59.2 ± 16.0 | 134 ± 18 | 0.92 ± 0.18 | 0.60 ± 0.18 |
| p value (vs control) | n.s. | n.s. | n.s. | n.s. | n.s. | n.s. | |
| GC alone | Mean ± SD | 2.0 ± 0.6 | 285 ± 93 | 54.8 ± 7.51 | 77 ± 25 | 0.98 ± 0.13 | 0.59 ± 0.02 |
| p value (vs control) | 0.042 | n.s. | n.s. | 0.09 | n.s. | n.s. | |
| GC plus anamorelin | Mean ± SD | 2.5 ± 0.4 | 263 ± 88 | 86.6 ± 36.0 | 195 ± 39 | 1.01 ± 0.3 | 0.54 ± 0.10 |
| p value (vs GC alone) | n.s. | n.s. | n.s. | 0.034 | n.s. | n.s. | |
| GC plus 5-ALA | Mean ± SD | 2.3 ± 0.8 | 248 ± 67 | 65.2 ± 21.4 | 187 ± 28 | 1.09 ± 0.08 | 0.57 ± 0.02 |
| p value (vs GC alone) | n.s. | n.s. | n.s. | n.s. | n.s. | n.s. | |
| p value (multiple comparison for six treatment groups) | 0.039 | n.s. | n.s. | 0.025 | n.s. | n.s. |
SD = standard deviation; 5-ALA = 5-aminolevulinic acid; GC = combined chemotherapy of gemicitabine and cisplatin; IL-6 = interleukin-6; IGF-1 = Insulin-like growth factor-1; p values are based on the comparison of the values at each treatment time point relative to the non-treated control group or GC alone group with using multiple comparison (the Kruskal-Wallis test) and the post hoc test (Dunn test).