Webb PM, Yu MC, Forman D, Henderson BE, Newell DG, Yuan JM, Gao YT, Ross RK. An apparent lack of association between Helicobacter pylori infection and risk of gastric cancer in China.
Int J Cancer 1996;
67:603-7. [PMID:
8782645 DOI:
10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19960904)67:5<603::aid-ijc2>3.0.co;2-y]
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Abstract
Several prospective studies have shown a significant association between Helicobacter pylori seropositivity and the risk of gastric cancer. Only a small proportion of H. pylori-infected individuals will, however, develop gastric cancer, and it is unclear what effects other factors, such as diet, might have on the risk of cancer. Eighty-seven subjects with gastric cancer were identified during the first 6 years of follow-up (mean 2.4 years) of a cohort of middle-aged men from Shanghai, China. They were matched with 261 cancer-free controls, and serum samples from all subjects, obtained at recruitment, were assayed for anti-H. pylori IgG antibodies. Questionnaire data provided information on a wide range of socio-demographic life-style and dietary variables. H. pylori seropositivity rates in the cases and controls were 54% and 56%, respectively. Neither the overall risk of developing gastric cancer nor the risk of developing non-cardia gastric cancer was significantly associated with prior M. pylori seropositivity. Adjustment for any of the other medical, dietary or life-style variables studied had little effect on the risk of developing non-cardia gastric cancer; simultaneous adjustment for all of these factors yielded an odds ratio of 1.17. The results do not support the hypothesis that H. pylori plays a role in the process of gastric carcinogenesis in China. It is possible that this is an artefact resulting from the relatively short follow-up period to date.
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