title: The evolving epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori infection and gastric cancer.
abstract: The relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and the risk of gastric cancer has been well established in the last decade. Four meta-analyses have found that the infection increases the risk of noncardia gastric cancer by 2- to 6-fold compared with noninfected control populations. However, the role of cagA strains of H pylori in relation to gastric cancer has not been evaluated systematically. We undertook a meta-analysis of epidemiological studies examining the relationship between infection with cagA-positive strains of H pylori and the risk of gastric cancer, and found that patients who are seropositive for cagA strains of H pylori are at an increased risk for developing noncardia gastric cancer compared with those with H pylori infection alone. Therefore, searching for cagA-positive strains of H pylori may help identify populations at a greater risk for developing gastric cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, McMaster University Medical Centre, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3Z5, Canada. huntr@mcmaster.ca
authors.forename: Jia-Qing
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Richard H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Hunt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C080866:cagA protein, Helicobacter pylori