Is Helicobacter pylori infection a real risk factor for gastric carcinoma?

Abstract

Background and methods: That Helicobacter pylori has a role in the pathogenesis of gastric carcinoma is widely accepted, although not all doubts are definitively clarified. The purpose of this work was to detect the differences in presence and mean titer of anti-H. pylori antibodies between groups with gastric (n = 65), colonic (n = 70), and lung (n = 43) carcinoma.

Results: The highest prevalence of anti-H. pylori antibodies was found in patients with pulmonary carcinoma (88.4%), which significantly surpassed (p = 0.02) that in the group with gastric carcinoma (69.2%). The groups with colonic and gastric carcinomas failed to show any difference in this respect. Mean antibody titer was significantly higher in subjects with lung carcinoma than in those with gastric carcinoma (p = 0.005). This difference was unrelated to age.

Conclusions: These results contradict the hypothesis assuming a relationship between H. pylori infection and the sequence of phenomena leading to gastric carcinoma.