Intestinal metaplasia in the stomach increases the risk of gastric can
cer, and the increased risk is proportional to the extent of the metap
lasia. This risk could be generated by one or more mechanisms: (1) the
metaplastic tissue is an early step in a multistep induction process;
(2) the metaplastic tissue is an epigenetic change that raises the pH
of gastric juice by replacing oxyntic mucosa, favoring the growth of
a bacteria capable of generating endogenous mutagens; and/or (3) the m
etaplasia is only a marker for chronic gastritis due to H. pylori infe
ction or pernicious anemia. With the last mechanism, the inflammatory
response favors intramural mutagenesis that might result in metaplasia
or neoplasia as independent events. Finding gene rearrangements commo
n to both metaplastic and neoplastic tissue may establish a direct lin
k between them, but too few have been identified to account for the la
rge number of stomach cancers that develop in high risk populations. H
istochemical and immunochemical stains that identify enzymes or mucosu
bstances may suggest that metaplastic epithelial cells resemble small
or large intestinal cells, but they are distinctly different from both
. Moreover, these stains do not indicate whether a given cytologic cha
nge is genetic or epigenetic; therefore, they cannot be used to define
the relationship between metaplasia and neoplasia. It is unnecessary
for practicing physicians to await resolution of this question. It can
be assumed that any person with extensive metaplasia is at high risk
for gastric cancer and should be subject to periodic screening. The ex
tent of the metaplastic process is probably more important than the me
taplastic subtype.