[Changes in Upper Gastrointestinal Diseases according to Improvement of Helicobacter pylori Prevalence Rate in Korea]

Helicobacter pylori can cause variety of upper gastrointestinal disorders such as peptic ulcer, mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT)-lymphoma, and gastric cancer. The prevalence of H. pylori infection has significantly decreased in Korea since 1998 owing to active eradication of H. pylori. Along with its decrease, the prevalence of peptic ulcer has also decreased. However, the mean age of gastric ulcer increased and this is considered to be due to increase in NSAID prescription. Gastric cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in Korea and Japan, and IARC/WHO has classified H. pylori as class one carcinogen of gastric cancer. Despite the decreasing prevalence of H. pylori infection, the total number of gastric cancer in Korea has continuously increased from 2006 to 2011. Nevertheless, the 5 year survival rate of gastric cancer patients significantly increased from 42.8% in 1993 to 67% in 2010. This increase in survival rate seems to be mainly due to early detection of gastric cancer and endoscopic mucosal dissection treatment. Based on these findings, the prevalence of peptic ulcer is expected to decrease even more with H. pylori eradication therapy and NSAID will become the main cause of peptic ulcer. Although the prevalence of gastric cancer has not changed along with decreased the prevalence of H. pylori, gastric cancer is expected to decrease in the long run with the help of eradication therapy and endoscopic treatment of precancerous lesions.