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Updated: Mar 28, 2026
Gastric Mucosa Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction Analysis for Detecting Helicobacter pylori and Antibiotic Resistance
Published on: March 7, 2025
An Update on Helicobacter pylori as the Cause of Gastric Cancer
Wei Zhang1, Hong Lu1, David Y Graham2
1Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai Institute of Digestive Disease, Shanghai, China.
Background:
Gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide. The vast majority of gastric cancers are inflammation-related cancers caused by infection with Helicobacter pylori. H. pylori-induced oxidative stress damages DNA, resulting in genetic instability. In addition, H. pylori itself can cause DNA damage and epigenetic changes that trigger genetic instability and neoplastic transformation.
Summary:
H. pylori strain-specific components act in combination with host factors and environmental and dietary factors to greatly enhance the inflammatory response and thus the cancer risk. Variations in several key factors, such as the cag pathogenicity island and the VacA protein, can trigger a greater inflammatory response in host cells. Genetic polymorphisms in the host such as in the IL-1β gene, and chromosomes 9p21.3 and 10q23 also play a contributing role. Finally, diet is a major external factor that modulates the risk of gastric cancer.
Key Message:
The majority of gastric cancers are inflammation-related cancers caused by infection with H. pylori. Eradication of H. pylori is important for the prevention and treatment of gastric cancer.
Practical Implications:
H. pylori eradication results in healing of gastritis and prevention of further H. pylori-induced genetic damage. Eradication of H. pylori prior to development of atrophic gastritis can prevent the development of gastric cancer. Japan has undertaken a nationwide program to identify and eliminate H. pylori, along with surveillance for those who underwent H. pylori eradication too late to eliminate cancer risk. Population-wide eradication of H. pylori will result in gastric cancer becoming a vanishingly rare disease.
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