Eradication of Helicobacter pylori and Gastric Cancer: A Controversial Relationship (original) (raw)

2021, Frontiers in Microbiology

Worldwide, gastric cancer (GC) represents the fifth cancer for incidence, and the third as cause of death in developed countries. Indeed, it resulted in more than 780,000 deaths in 2018. Helicobacter pylori appears to be responsible for the majority of these cancers. On the basis of recent studies, and either alone or combined with additional etiological factors, H. pylori is considered a “type I carcinogen.” Over recent decades, new insights have been obtained into the strategies that have been adopted by H. pylori to survive the acidic conditions of the gastric environment, and to result in persistent infection, and dysregulation of host functions. The multistep processes involved in the development of GC are initiated by transition of the mucosa into chronic non-atrophic gastritis, which is primarily triggered by infection with H. pylori. This gastritis then progresses into atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia, and then to dysplasia, and following Correa’s cascade, to ade...