ASSOCIATION OF HELICOBACTER-PYLORI WITH GASTRIC-CANCER AND OBSERVATIONS ON THE DETECTION OF THIS BACTERIUM IN GASTRIC-CANCER CASES

Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence o f Helicobacter pylori infection in Chinese patients with advanced gast ric cancer, to compare this with a matched control population, and to identify factors that may effect the detection of H. pylori in patient s with gastric cancer. Methods: Fifty-one patients with advanced gastr ic cancer and 102 age/sex-matched controls were included in the study. For the detection of H. pylori, both biopsy specimens and sera were c ollected from the patients, whereas only sera were collected from the controls. A strong association was shown between H. pylori and both in testinal and diffuse type gastric cancer. Antibiotic intake in the mon th before endoscopic examination, the site of collection of biopsy spe cimens, and tumor size were identified as factors that may reduce the histological detection of H. pylori in gastric cancer patients. Conclu sions: These data provide supporting evidence of an association betwee n H. pylori infection and gastric cancer and indicate that, in certain circumstances, histological evaluation of H. pylori infection in gast ric cancer cases may be less reliable than serological evaluation.