ASSOCIATION BETWEEN HELICOBACTER-PYLORI INFECTION AND PANCREATIC-CANCER

Purpose: In order to determine whether infection with Helicobacter pyl ori might be associated with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, we performed a study to compare the H. pylori seroprevalence rate between patients w ith pancreatic carcinoma and matched control subjects. Patients and Me thods: Blood samples from 92 patients with histologically confirmed di agnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma admitted to our hospital between January 1994 and July 1995 were analyzed for the presence of IgG antib odies against H. pylori by a commercially available enzyme-linked immu nosorbent assay. Thirty patients with gastric cancer, 35 patients with colorectal cancer, and 27 healthy volunteers served as controls. In a ddition to these serological analyses, tumor specimens from 20 patient s with pancreatic adenocarcinoma were microscopically investigated for the presence of H. pylori. Results: 65% of pancreatic cancer patients and 69% of those with gastric cancer were found to be seropositive, w hile only 45% of the other controls tested positive, Statistical analy sis revealed no difference in seropositivity between the cohort of pat ients suffering from pancreatic and gastric cancer. The rate of seropo sitivity was more prominent, however, in pancreatic cancer patients wh en compared with those suffering from colorectal cancer combined with normal controls (p = 0.035), with an odds ratio of 2.1 (1.1-4.1). Micr oscopic evaluation of human pancreatic cancer specimens showed no evid ence for the presence of H. pylori Conclusion: Our data suggest an ass ociation between H. pylori infection and pancreatic cancer. Despite de monstration of a positive relationship and its physiological plausibil ity, larger prospective studies are needed to confirm our preliminary findings and to assess H. pylori as a potential carcinogenic risk fact or.