M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors regulate epithelial–mesenchymal transition, perineural invasion, and migration/metastasis in cholangiocarcinoma through the AKT pathway

Table 1 Clinicopathological features of patients with cholangiocarcinoma and correlations with M3 expression

Factor	n	M3 expression					P value
Factor	n	(−)	( + )	( ++)	( +++)	Positive rate (%)	P value
Sex
Male	43	5	6	14	18	88.89	0.500
Female	17	1	6	4	6	93.33
Age
< 59	23	2	5	7	9	91.30	0.962
≥ 59	37	4	7	11	15	89.19
Differentiation of tumors
High	18	3	4	5	6	83.33	0.308
Middle and poorly	42	3	8	13	18	92.86
Lymph node metastasis
Yes	46	1	8	15	22	97.83	0.001
No	14	5	4	3	2	64.29
TNM stage
I–II	16	5	5	3	3	68.75	0.002
III–IV	44	1	7	15	21	97.73
Tumor location
Hilar	19	2	3	6	6	88.23	0.756
Middle and distal	41	4	9	12	18	90.70	0.756
Perineural invasion
Yes	53	3	10	16	24	94.34	0.007
No	7	3	2	2	0	57.14

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