Helicobacter pylori and gastric carcinoma

The aim of the study was to evaluate the relation of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection and gastric cancer and a possible relation with a certain histopathological type of gastric cancer and localization within the stomach. A cross-section study was conducted on 60 consecutive patients (45 men and 15 women) with an established histological diagnosis of gastric cancer. The patients were divided into 2 groups (HP positive and HP negative) and additionally, depending on histopathological type, into intestinal, diffuse and cardia cancer, and localization as cardia carcinoma, proximal and distal carcinoma. HP was detected with a rapid ureasa endoscopic test and a serologic immune essay. Forty-two out of 60 patients 42 (70%) were HP positive. There were 36 intestinal type of gastric cancer, 34 (94.4%) HP positive (statistically significant), 19 patients with diffuse type, and 8 (42.1%) HP positive. The remaining 5 were carcinoma of cardia and all were HP negative. Thirty-seven (61.7%) were distal carcinomas, up to (76.2%) in the HP positive group, there were 18 (30%) proximal carcinomas and 5 (8.3%) localized on the cardia. This study confirmed the high incidence of HP infection in patients with gastric carcinoma, particularly in those with an intestinal type of cancer. Carcinomas were predominantly localized in the distal part of the stomach, especially in the HP positive group of intestinal type. Carcinomas of cardia were negatively associated with HP infection.