Seropositivity against Helicobacter pylori CagA in turkish gastric cancer patients

Background: Increased prevalence of CagA in gastric cancer has been reporte d. yet, other reports suggest that the cagA gene is not associated with gas tric cancer. Goals: To evaluate the frequency of CagA seropositivity in Tur kish patients with gastric cancer. Study: Thirty-two patients with gastric adenocarcinoma and 46 patients with nonulcer dyspepsia were examined for He licobacter pylori status and for antibodies against CagA. Results: H. pylor i was positive in 56.3% of patients and in 71.7% of controls. CagA was posi tive in all patients in the study group, regardless of H. pylori positivity , and in 56.5% of the control group. CagA positivity in H. pylori-positive patients was significantly more frequent in patients with gastric cancer th an in those with nonulcer dyspepsia (p < 0.001). As for H. pylori-negative patients in both groups, CagA positivity was also more frequent in gastric cancer patients (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Testing for H. pylori antibodies w ithout testing for antibodies against CagA will miss patients with either r ecent or previous infection, which may be a cause of missing the relationsh ip between H. pylori and gastric cancer. The authors think that testing for CagA in patients with dyspepsia can reveal which patients should be follow ed up for the risk of developing gastric cancer.