title: Comparison of 13C-urea breath test values in gastric cancer, peptic ulcer and gastritis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Results of urea breath test (UBT) are related to the severity of atrophic gastritis and the density of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). Recently, it has been reported that low UBT values should be considered to suggest the possibility of gastric cancer. This study compares UBT results in gastric cancer patients with those of peptic ulcer and gastritis patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between October 1998 and May 2000, we have consecutively collected 564 H. pylori-positive patients: 128 gastritis patients, 72 gastric cancer patients, 64 gastric ulcer patients and 300 duodenal ulcer patients. Peptic ulcers were classified into active (A), healing (H), and scar (S) stages. Gastric cancer was classified into early stage (EGCA) and advanced stage (AGCA). The dose of 13C-urea was 50mg, and breath samples were analyzed with a mass spectrometer and the data was evaluated by Mann-Whitney test. The cut-off value was 3.5 per thousand.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean UBT values of gastric cancer, gastric ulcer (GU), duodenal ulcer (DU) and gastritis were 16.95 +/- 12.2 per thousand, 16.3 +/- 9.3 per thousand, 15.13 +/- 9.9 per thousand and 20.07 +/- 13.5 per thousand. There were no significant differences in UBT values between gastric cancer and gastric ulcer (p = 0.745), duodenal ulcer (p = 0.3831), or gastritis (p = 0.2953). There were also no significant differences between subgroups of gastric cancer and gastric ulcer. There were significantly higher UBT values in the DU scar stage (p = 0.001) and healing stage (p = 0.0484) than in the active stage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that the UBT value is not a good method for the prediction of gastric cancer. In addition, based on the results of our study, the UBT values may explain the relationship between the natural course of duodenal ulcer and H. pylori infection.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital, Dalin Chia-Yi, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chang-An
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.forename: Jeng-Yih
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yong-Sang
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Fang-Jong
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Chao-Hung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.forename: Chien-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Yu-Chung
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Deng-Chyang
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Daw-Shyong
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Perng
authors.forename: Chang-Ming
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Jan
authors.forename: Wen-Ming
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001944:Breath Tests; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005756:Gastritis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000175:diagnosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014508:Urea
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D014508:Urea