Are there any real Helicobacter pylori infection-negative gastric cancers in Asia?
The great variability in gastric cancer rates across Asia, with very high incidences in Japan and Korea, and exceedingly low incidences in ethnic Malays, whether in Malaysia or Indonesia, appears largely due to variation in Helicobacter pylori infection rates. While between 2% and 10.6% of gastric cancers in a recent Japanese survey were considered to be negative for bacterial infection on the basis of seropositivity and H. pylori-dependent mucosal atrophy, it is notoriously difficult to preclude past infection. The situation is greatly complicated by reported differences in the etiology of gastric cardia and non-cardia cancers. In the Western world there do appear to be tumours arising close to the esophageal-gastric junction which are not related to H. pylori and associated inflammation, but in most Asian populations these appear to be very rare. Therefore preventive efforts, and particularly screening, should be focused on markers of bacterial infection, with avoidance of unnecessary exposure to X-ray radiation.
Tokudome
Shinkan
S
Department of Public Health, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601 Japan. tokudome@med.nagoya-cu.ac.jp
Ando
Ryosuke
R
Ghadimi
Reza
R
Tanaka
Tsutomu
T
Hattori
Nami
N
Yang
Zhao
Z
Marumoto
Mitsuhiro
M
Agawa
Hiroyuki
H
Arakawa
Kazuyuki
K
Osaka
Yuko
Y
Tanaka
Hideyoshi
H
Hosono
Akihiro
A
Moore
Malcolm A
MA
D001208:Asia / Q000453:epidemiology; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008403:Mass Screening; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000517:prevention & control